Borneo International Social Work Symposium (BISWS) 2017 is the first symposium organized by the Social Work Program, Faculty of Psychology and Education, UMS. The BISWS will be held at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Malaysia is a multicultural country of which the population is made up by different types of ethnic groups that included Malays, Chinese, Indian and the Native. State of Sabah as part of Malaysia is a multicultural society with more than 40 ethnics and other subethnic groups. With diverse cultures, languages, customs, norms and conventions represents new and different challenges for social work practitioners. One of the challenges is that to examine the experience of working with clients from diverse backgrounds, cultures and nationalities and how social workers responded to the challenges that they facing. It is agreed that social work promotes interpersonal relationships that sensitive to ethnic background, human services and social work practices at the local, regional, state, national, and international levels. Issues of races, cultures, ethnicities, social classes, gender, age, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability status, religions, regions and national origins that can be used to distinguished groups of people are quite important in social work practices. Thus, historical and cultural experiences in shaping the current reality of the client must well understood by social workers.

Social work had long and extensive experience in relation to the issues associated with diversity and multiculturalism. While the arguments for and against acceptance of multiculturalism as an organizing and systemic principle for our society continues to be debated, social work values diversity and promotes cultural competence as one of the important social work tools. The profession has been taught to understand and respect various cultures, and provide culturally relevant programs and services.