The global social issue that is outlined in the selected newspaper article is poverty, and food shortage in Papua New Guineans (PNG). According to ABC News (2016), people of PNG are suffering from and dying of malnutrition as well as drastic effects of drought. They have nothing to eat and have no financial resources to buy food. They are waiting for a miracle in the form of external aid and help. Children, men and women are losing their lives and there are no sufficient resources in PNG for survival of people. This issue is leading towards food scarcity and can be solved with the help of globalization. Australia, being a country with abundance of food can provide food to the people of PNG by focusing on and through fulfilling its international social work responsibilities. Australia can fulfill the social responsibility with the help of social workers. According to Flexner (2001), social workers are the people that are interested in identifying the social needs of individuals, communities or groups on national and international level. In addition, social workers try to provide support to the victims of social issues and help them to improve quality of their lives. The people of PNG are highly vulnerable to diseases and problems. Social workers from Australia can help the people of PNG to solve social issues. With the help of Australian government, social workers can save lives of thousands of people in PNG. It is the duty of PNG’s government to solve current social issues. But, Australian social workers can play an effective role in controlling the issues.

The food shortage issue in PNG is considered to be a severe social issue. Due to food shortage, health issues like malnutrition, deaths, illness and diseases are increasing in PNG. According to the selected newspaper article, these issues are caused due to drought, and can be solved by making investments in agricultural sector of PNG. Australia is enjoying a well-developed agricultural sector and investors from the country are investing across international boundaries. The investors can invest money in agricultural sector of PNG to make it prosperous. Initially, Australian agricultural sector can provide food to the people of PNG. The food can be in the form of wheat, rice, corn, vegetables and fruits. By focusing on globalization, Australia can fulfill the needs of people in PNG and can solve an international social issue through fulfilling its international social work responsibilities. Social workers can be highly useful in controlling the social issues prevailing in the country (Reamer, 1999). Other than providing food to the people of PNG, Australian social workers can help them in facing health issues. Social workers can assist the effected people of PNG in getting rid of diseases by providing them medicines and vaccinations. It is also included in the duty of social workers to provide information about personal hygiene, safety and health.

There are different social, political, health and economic issues that can have an adverse effect on Australian people. The issue discussed in the selected article is related to health of people. The mental health of Australian people is being suffered by watching people dying in PNG due to lack of food, high rate of poverty and malnutrition. According to Australian Government (2016), social and economic issues in Australia are increasing. There is a negative impact on physical as well as mental health of Australian public due to presence of social issues in Australian environment.  These issues include family violence, domestic violence, bullying, racism and sexual assault. Bullying and racism is present in different institutes like schools, colleges and workplace. There is workforce diversity in Australia. People from different corners of world are employed in different Australian companies. Social issues are prevailing in Australia at different level. As mentioned above, domestic violence is prevailing in Australia, leading towards mental and physical health issues. Social workers can be helpful in controlling the social issues at national level in Australia. Social workers can do so by spreading awareness about harmful effects of social issues on individual’s health. Social workers can provide information to the victims regarding social acts and laws prevailing in Australia. According to King (2015), economic issues in Australia are increasing due to increase in migrations. The issues include lack of employment, inflation, low GDP and purchasing power. These issues have a negative impact on Australian public. However, through engaging public in social work, these issues can be minimized, if not eliminated.  

According to Cheers (1998), Australian people are paying attention towards identification of social issues as well as searching for their solution. In addition, different social plans at national and international level are designed by the social workers in Australia. Social workers of Australia have a potential to handle national as well as international social issues. The social workers of Australia can solve the identified social issues in PNG. They can meet the food demands of PNG people by collaborating with Australian government and administration. They can run different social campaigns to spread awareness about international social issue in PNG; can collect funds and charity to help the masses suffering from the issue. Australian administration can engage general public in solving the international social issue prevailing in PNG. Youngsters and adults in Australia are highly energetic and can be motivated to perform effective role in solving social issues at national and international level. The Australian public is always ready to do something for the welfare of society. By engaging people in solving the social issues, Australia can easily perform its corporate social responsibility at international level. The social issues identified in PNG cannot be solved by providing healthy food to the sufferers but long term rehabilitation programs should also be made by local government. According to Parton and O'Byrne (2000), social workers should perform the constructive work so that issues can be easily eliminated. The sufferers of PNG must be provided healthy atmosphere to live in and basic necessities of life. Administration and government of PNG cannot solve the issue alone because of lack of resources. Australian social workers can be proved highly useful in solving the international social issue identified in PNG.

References

Australia.gov.au, (2016). Social issues. Retrieved from: http://www.australia.gov.au/information-and-services/family-and-community/social-issues

Australian Broadcasting Corporation, (2016). PNG suffering amid severe food shortage. Retrieved from: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-27/papua-new-guinieans-suffering-amid-food-shortage/7278254

Cheers, B. (1998). Welfare bushed: social care in rural Australia. London: Ashgate Publishing Limited

Flexner, A. (2001). Is social work a profession?. Research on Social Work Practice, 11(2), 152-165.

King, R. (2015). Return migration and regional economic problems. 6^th edition. New York: Routledge

Parton, N. and O'Byrne, P. (2000). Constructive Social Work. London: Macmillan.

Reamer, F. (1999). Social Work Values and Ethics. 2^nd edition. New York: Columbia University Press