UN Disability Rights Convention and Implications for Social Work Practice

Abstract

The central argument of this paper is that social work should consider strengthening the rights-based practice of the profession by referencing it more specifically to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD) and the concept of citizenship as it applies to people with disability. The CRPD has placed people with disability on the global agenda, highlighting their need for greater inclusion in society and recognising them as citizens to be valued and respected. How the CRPD deals with the issue of exclusion of people with disability in society has important implications for social work practice. The argument is that social work has been slow to respond to the opportunities made available by the ratification of the CRPD to strengthen its rights-based practice, and has thus left disability rights as a missing component in social work. This paper takes the view that seeking to achieve full citizenship for people with disability by applying human rights standards, methods and rhetoric, will not only reaffirm disability-inclusive practice for social work but it will also assert greater influence in national and international institutions and demonstrate that social work is more than a charitable, residual, or therapeutic profession. The paper also discusses how major principles advocated by the CRPD may interface with the concept of citizenship inherently embedded in the value commitment of social work.