At the global level, social workers and their representative organizations can engage more effectively with the United Nations processes to foster the creation of new eco-social contracts. In order to achieve this, larger systemic reform of UN systems is needed to better include and recognize people and communities affected by human rights violations and members of professions working to support them. As a way forward, the UN needs to consider various forms of people’s assemblies, drawing on the experience of the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) co-leading the 2022 People’s Global Summit, to assure that new social contracts are built on inclusive and collaborative practices of co-creation that leave no one behind.
Social workers across the world see on a daily basis the failure of existing social contracts to afford the most basic of human rights to millions of people. We cannot continue with “business as usual” as the world faces unprecedented levels of crisis, including climate change, pandemics, enduring inequality and escalating conflicts. These interconnected crises exert profound impacts on individuals and communities, giving rise to heightened economic, social, political, emotional and ecological challenges. This requires new forms of action and understanding as many of the systems that have contributed to these problems are not a likely source of solutions. Social workers are working within communities, governments and the United Nations to address the impacts of complex and intersecting crises on marginalized populations with a commitment to empowerment, social justice and self-determination. Social work, as a human rights profession and key civil society voice, can provide an important role in the co-building of much-needed new eco-social contracts, societal agreements that are fully inclusive and environmentally sustainable. Social workers can contribute by applying their skills and experiences in working with people and working in partnership with key stakeholders to achieve sustainable solutions that leave no one behind.
In social work, the ideas and practices of co-building an eco-social world have been gaining attention in the past decade. Increasingly, social workers work with people impacted by climate change and environmental degradation through disaster relief and capacity building. From a social work perspective, an eco-social approach is anchored in recognizing that those who suffer already from social injustice are those who are more likely to suffer environmental injustice. As part of the larger civil society organization (CSO) movement, social work is one of the professions that ensures that human rights are not only legally guaranteed, but also realized through a rights-based practice approach. Social workers are engaged at all levels of eco-social action and could be key informers regarding issues unfolding on the ground. This includes promoting participatory processes that incorporate the profession’s values and nine ethical principles, such as dignity, promotion of human rights, diversity, social justice and participation.
The philosophy of co-building an eco-social world is also the basis of social workers’ commitment to achieving the 2030 Agenda. The IFSW and its members affirm support for, and their role in, realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2022, the International Federation of Social Workers policy paper “The Role of Social Workers in Advancing a New Eco-social World” expanded the profession’s commitment to a holistic human rights framework that encompasses ecosystem rights and the broader rights of nature.
While the United Nations recognizes the importance of partnering with civil society to support its work in achieving the SDGs and its transformative agenda, current modalities of engagement with civil society and non-governmental organizations are not sufficiently “people-centered” and obstruct participation of social workers and communities. At the global level, the profession faces numerous challenges, including major barriers to meaningful participation in UN processes. This is partly because the profession is not well enough known and established in global or regional fora. It is also due to entrenched top-down UN systems that limit who has a seat at the table.
CSOs such as professional associations struggle to engage in meaningful and qualitative participation in UN processes to make their voices heard. The opportunities to participate in UN formal processes are restricted and do not allow for effective advocacy. For example, the Human Rights Council allows for 120 seconds of speaking time for CSOs who hold UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) consultative status. CSOs’ inputs are treated as a matter of protocol and there is no engagement or feedback on the input. Moreover, the process of consultation itself is top-down, as agenda-setting is controlled by UN agencies and involves no relationship building. UN processes that intend to promote bottom-up engagement are often not sufficiently collaborative and “people-centered” in practice, posing many barriers to access and failing to foster dialogue or partnership. CSOs need a new modality of engagement with the UN if we are to achieve new eco-social contracts.
Social workers argue that linking their bottom-up practice of community work and the more top-down policy approaches of the UN represents synergies for collaboration. One positive example for how we might establish better cooperation between the UN and CSOs, in particular social workers, is the People’s Global Summit convened in 2022. The IFSW co-led with UNRISD a unique partnership to gather groups from across the world, bridging movements for justice “to create new ways to work together for sustainability and quality of life for all.” Held online on 29 June–2 July 2022, this inclusive process was initiated by 26 diverse global organizations representing hundreds of millions of people.
The lessons from the sessions were consolidated by a diverse core group in the form of a People’s Charter as a reference point that will grow as the world’s populations share their solutions to our joint challenges, so all people can live with confidence, security and peace in a sustainable world.” As stated in the People’s Charter for an Eco-Social World, this can only be achieved through co-developing reciprocity and joint ownership of positive change, co-building peace, co-living with nature, co-creating social justice and co-realizing equality.
The process followed in convening the People’s Summit is a possible step in the co-creation of new eco-social contracts and may present a way forward that could inform UN reform:
First, it enabled a variety of actors to come out of the silos that divide communities to work together and co-ideate and co-construct policies, practices and action based on inclusion, intergenerational respect, and recognition of Indigenous and grassroots knowledge.
Second, it involved transnational organizations, movements, federations and coalitions across sectors, professions, geographies and faiths bringing together fine-grained knowledge and lived experiences that were mutually recognized and valorized in view of co-constructing a vision for a new eco-social world.
Third, the virtual opportunity of the current digital age was leveraged to invite contributions in a variety of formats, including academic presentations, blogs, storytelling, panel discussions, TikTok videos, poetry and research from all over the globe, making it more inclusive.
As a result of the Summit, we would like to make a provocative proposition: The United Nations as a global organization is tasked with addressing issues that transcend national boundaries and that cannot be resolved by any one country acting alone. Could it utilize part of its resources to adopt more inclusive and people-centred engagement as demonstrated by the People’s Summit? The People’s Summit provides a model of a people’s assembly for communities to directly participate in discussions and assessments concerning them and an avenue to co-shape the social and physical environments they live in. There needs to be further research and work to explore people’s assemblies to contribute to the design and implementation of eco-social contracts, building on models already in existence.
Social workers witness the adverse consequences of misconceived policies that lack consultation, co-creation and collaboration, and further entrench inequalities. The co-creation of new eco-social contracts must avoid repeating the failures of top-down approaches to addressing our most pressing crises. Social workers, and in particular national social work associations, can facilitate this process to become more inclusive and participatory and explore modalities of partnership with the United Nations to ensure voices are heard and that the creation of new eco-social contracts is inclusive and sustainable for people and the planet.