Social Work: Global Practice

Background and Statistics

This guide highlights sources of international data and information useful to social work students in the Global Practice concentration classes.

Columbia International Affairs Online - CIAO
Search for a country name and "outlook" to find the Economists Country Outlook Reports. Also, searching for a country alone brings up broader results and other basic information.

globalEDGE
Free online resource for global business information. Developed by Michigan State University.
Country Watch
A storehouse of raw data for over 250 different variables for all countries.
World Bank: Countries and Regions
Information about WB activities in each country, and also basic data and statistics.
World Legal Information Institute
Provides cross-database searching for legal materials of all types for countries around the world. Includes government departments and agencies, court cases, legislation, treaties, journals and more.

Kanopy
Stream hard hitting documentaries and films anywhere. Try browsing titles by Subject. The Global Studies and Social Sciences sections contain titles that cover global issues.
Films on Demand
FoD includes informative videos ranging from training topics to global political issues. Browse by topic or use the advanced search option to select a specific producer like Frontline or BBC.
Human Rights Studies Online
The resource includes videos, documentation and analysis of human rights violations and atrocities around the world. You can browse by topic, theme or region.
Border and Migration Studies Online
The collection of videos, documents and analysis explores the historical background on more than thirty key worldwide border areas. Search or browse by place, theme or topic.

FAOSTAT
This website provides access to over 3 million time-series and cross sectional data relating to food and agriculture. FAOSTAT contains data for 200 countries and more than 200 primary products and inputs, just in its core.
World Development Indicators
Includes 600 indicators in 83 tables, arranged in six sections: world view, people, environment, economy, states and markets, and global links. The tables cover 148 economies and 14 country groups with basic indicators for a further 62 economies.
World Health Organization Data
National statistics for 50 core indicators on mortality, morbidity, risk factors, disease, service coverage, and health systems.

Columbia International Affairs Online - CIAO
Search for "democracy index" to find the Economists Intelligence Unit's most recent DI report. The index rates countries on democratic policies and other measures.

UN Human Development Reports
The HDR collects data on many dimensions of people's progress and well-being around the world. The Human Development Index, a numerical score of peoples' well-being by country, is also included.
UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner
The Commissioner's office keeps track of the progress of human rights across the globe. The indicator is based on a country's policies and other factors.

OECD Statistics
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development keeps track of key indicators and statistics about world broken down by region and country.

UNdata
A single entry point to a variety of statistical resources of the UN System. It pools major UN databases and those of several international organizations and includes Key Indicators and MDG Indicators.