Social Workers Without Borders: Voices for Justice

Abstract

In a 2014 special edition, the Ethics and Social Welfare journal expressed its commitment to deepening an awareness of human connectedness, what Africans refer to as Ubuntu. Ubuntu offers a way for social workers to demonstrate their responsibility to one another and to the improvement of the human condition in ways that transcend borders. In keeping with the spirit of connection, a gathering of social work academics and practitioners took place in Melbourne Australia in 2014 at the Social Work, Education and Social Development Conference. Here the seeds were sown to advance a Social Workers Without Borders (SWWB) network. In the preceding year, Jenny Martin from RMIT University and Linda Briskman from the Swinburne Institute for Social Research steered a feasibility study to formulate prospects for developing a network (see http://www.developmenteducationreview.com/issue17-focus4). While the website: www.socialworkerswithoutborders.net cannot in itself indigenise social work practice, nor establish pan-regional codes of ethics, a single source movement can provide a meaningful space for social workers to support one another in their work. And, for those with agency to speak freely, the network fosters confidence to act upon outrage, concern and compassion when bearing witness to injustices. Scholars, activists, practitioners and students, have been speaking for years about our responsibility to draw attention to the plight of those whose basic human rights are compromised on a daily basis. This site helps us to more firmly establish the profession as one that centres human rights and human dignity. There are innumerable issues to which we might respond, each with contextual and global reach - the world refugee situation, conditions of Indigenous communities,human trafficking, child labour and enduring poverty. These contexts are the responsibility of each one of us. It is not a matter of a 'continent specific problem' or a 'localised problem', but rather a consideration of how injustices affect each one of us. How we view these circumstances and what we do about them requires a level of connection that provides a forum to respect the dignity of all peoples. As a network we draw on the teachings of inspirational social workers advocating for social work's moral responsibility to advocate for justice beyond our own contexts, and we stand with social workers who direct us as to be at the forefront of national and international debates about injustices. Incrementally, some of these ideas will be collected and displayed on our website.