International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW)
Report of the Human Rights and Social Justice Committee(April 2025)
The challenges, and opportunities, for social work and social workers can be described
as a ‘perfect storm’, with the continuing impact of a series of severe and mutually
reinforcing shocks, having a significant impact on the lives of all peoples.
Humanitarian disaster; famine, food and energy crises; surging inflation; debt
tightening, the climate emergency, (continuing) wars, conflict and instability (forexample, in Ukraine; Israel-Gaza; Sudan; DRC; South Asia Region) has severely
impacting on the world economy. Evidence of continuing inequality and injustice incountries and across the globe are pervasive; for example, groups such as indigenous
peoples, migrants and refugees, and ethnic and other minorities continue to suffer fromdiscrimination, marginalisation, and lack of legal rights. Further increasing populism,nationalism and xenophobia mask destructive interests that threaten both planet andpeople, eroding the solidarity needed for effective global action. The 2024 World
Economic Situation and Prospect report (United Nations January 2024 1) calls forurgent action to address these diverse challenges. It emphasises the need forstrengthened global cooperation, particularly in areas like climate action, sustainable
development financing, and addressing the debt sustainability challenges of low andmiddle-income countries.
As a social work community and as educators the imperative of responding to theglobal crisis continues to be a critical focus. We strive to nurture and sustain a focus
on the positive contribution of social work to ‘making a difference’ and capable of action
in a disrupted world. We continue to promote the social work profession, including
recruitment of high-quality candidates for social work education; continuing to support
the professionalisation of the social work workforce; providing support to the current
workforce, while planning and developing for the future workforce.
Pursuing
excellence in teaching and research in social work for human rights and social justicerequires the continuation of achieving yet greater excellence in teaching, learning andresearch; supporting and developing sustainability and inclusion, including
partnerships that mobilise action; amplifying realities of the lived experiences of‘others’; representing marginalised voices; and shaping innovative ideas for tackling
global challenges, for example as decolonised and indigenous wisdom andharmonious coexistence with nature. Affirming human rights and co building peace,justice and solidarity and realising equality is critical in supporting transformativesocial work education and practice.
The Workplan for the HRSJ Committee 2024 is outlined in Appendix One; Appendix
Two: Membership.
Janet Walker(On behalf of the HRSJ Committee)
1 https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/goal-of-the-month/

1March 2024
Appendix OneWorkplan for HRSJ Committee 2024
Proposed Activity
Coordinate, and work with other IASSW Committees, for example, International Research Projects
Committee,
to strengthen Human Rights and Social Justice perspectives through joint
working/initiatives.
Strengthen liaison with regional and sub-regional groups to support dialogue and representation ofHRSJ, including discussion re potential of ‘communities of shared knowledge’ (spaces whereexperiences and ideas are exchanged, where collaboration generates innovation and where collective
wisdom informs the path to change, empowerment, rights and justice).

Promote and prioritise decolonial thinking, teaching and learning practice and research, prioritising
Indigenous epistemologies, knowledges, perspectives, languages, histories, and pedagogies tofocalise Indigenous ways of knowing and being.
Promote and prioritise issues of environmental justice2Appendix Two
HRSJ Committee Members
NameInstitution

Janet Walker

University of Lincoln,England.
Anneline Keet
Nelson Mandela University,
South Africa
Edward (Eddy) Asamoah Kwame Nkrumah University ofScience and Technology
Ghana
Chaitali Das
Frankfurt University of AppliedSciences,
Germany
Shirley Gatenio Gabel
Fordham University,
New York, USACorlie GiliomeeUniversity of Pretoria,
South Africa
Jessica JönssonŐrebro University,
SwedenNoga Pitowsky
Sapir College,
IsraelJowima Reyes
University of the PhilippinesDiliman,
Philippines
Mohd Haizzan Yahaya
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM),Malaysia.

3CommentsChair
Board Member

Board Member