Meet The Project Director

Manohar Pawar, MA PhD., is a senior lecturer in Social Work at Charles Sturt University (CSU), Wagga Wagga campus. He is also a key researcher of the Centre for Rural Social Research at the university. Before joining CSU, Pawar was an Executive Officer and Lecturer in International Social Work at the Regional Social Development Centre, Department of Social Work, La Trobe University, Melbourne. Earlier, he was a member of the faculty at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India and an honorary consultant to a UNICEF sponsored project relating to Juvenile Service Bureau. After graduating, Pawar began his career as a community organiser and rehabilitation/placement officer with nongovernment organisations and a research assistant with the International Institute for Populations Sciences, all based in Mumbai, India.

Pawar has authored more than ten books/monographs in the area of social work, social development and criminal justice. He is currently engaged in research projects dealing with social policy subject outlines, poverty alleviation,

social work with the unemployed and community informal welfare systems in Asia-Pacific countries. Pawar has made a significant contribution to the field of developmental social work. His research and writing have emphasised a developmental perspective for social work education and practice.

Pawar was awarded an institutional doctoral fellowship located at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies by the Indian Council of Social Science Research, best student-Alumni Association Prize by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Bombay and national merit scholarship. He has received more than ten research grants. Recently, Dr. Pawar received Japan Foundation Asia Centre grants to conduct an international research project on community informal care and welfare systems in Asia-Pacific countries. He is a leader for the international social development research group within the Centre for Rural Social Research at Charles Sturt University.

Pawar was invited to participate and provide training in the first interregional training course in research methodology in criminal justice, organised by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute Rome, Italy, in 1991. He was also invited to chair a scientific session at the 1997 Asia and the Pacific regional conference of the Asia-Pacific Association of Social Work Educators and International Federation of Social Workers.

Pawar is well trained in social research methods. He has successfully conducted a number research projects. Currently, Pawar is editing a proposed book entitled Data Collecting Experiences: A guide to social researchers. He has served as peer reviewer for refereed journals and examiner for postgraduate and doctoral theses. He has supervised postgraduate students' research projects. Pawar is also a member of a number of professional associations with important responsibilities.