UNDRIP and Indigenous well-being: Global challenges for social workers and social-work organizations

Abstract

The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) merits special attention in the context of international social work, social-work discourses, and professional goals. Following consideration of current UNDRIP implementation gaps, this article addresses the following question: How can social workers and social-work organizations support “translating” the global vision into actions at the glocal nexus and facilitate UNDRIP implementation at the national and local levels through gap-filling initiatives led by Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous/non-Indigenous partnerships? The article reviews a range of advocacy strategies and draws special attention to lessons that can be applied by current and future generations of social-work practitioners.

Keywords

UNDRIP implementation indigenous well-being global agenda social work organizations transnational social work

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Allassad Alhuzail

Mahajne

(2021) Social work in a conflict context: Challenges facing social workers with indigenous inhabitants of unrecognised villages in Israel. International Journal of Social Welfare 30: 97–105. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsw.12427

Anaya

(2009) The right of Indigenous Peoples to self-determination in the post-declaration era. In: Charters

Stavenhagen

(eds) Making the Declaration Work: The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, pp.184–199.

Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) (2021) AIPP Annual Report 2021. Available at: https://aippnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/AIPP-Annual-Report-2021-Final-resized.pdf (accessed 31 December 2025).

Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) (2022) Joint statement on international day of the world’s Indigenous Peoples, 9 August 2022. Available at: https://aippnet.org/joint-statement-international-day-worlds-indigenous-peoples-9-august-2022/ (accessed 31 December 2024).

Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) (n.d.) About us. Available at: https://aippnet.org/about-us/ (accessed 31 December 2025).

Bayot

ABE

(2023) Indigenous peoples in international law: Resistance, refusal, revolution. European Journal of Legal Studies 15(1): 293–311. https://doi.org/10.2924/EJLS.2023.018

Calma

Priday

(2011) Putting Indigenous Human Rights into Social Work Practice. Australian Social Work 64(2): 147–155.

Canadian Association of Social Workers (2019) Statement of apology and commitment to reconciliation. Available at: https://www.casw-acts.ca

Côté

Grant

Islam

, et al. (2025) The global implementation of UNDRIP: A thematic review. The International Journal of Human Rights 29(2): 306–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2024.2407529

10.

Dahl

(2020) International human rights mechanisms and indigenous experiences with autonomy. In: Limbu

Olsvig

Dahl

, et al. (eds) Building Autonomies. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, pp.9–12.

11.

Debelo

(2011) Contrast in the politics of recognition and Indigenous People’s rights. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples 7(3): 258–271.

12.

Deepak

(2012) Globalization, power and resistance: Postcolonial and transnational feminist perspectives for social work practice. International Social Work 55(6): 779–793.

13.

Dorough

(2009) The significance of the declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples and its future implementation. In: Charters

Stavenhagen

(eds) Making the Declaration Work: The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, pp.264–279.

14.

Forero

(2015) Indigenous perspectives of sustainability and a human rights approach to sustainable development. In: Redclift

Springett

(eds) Routledge International Handbook of Sustainable Development. Routledge, pp.22–36.

15.

Gabel

Yang

(2022) Transnational advocacy at the United Nations for social workers. Journal of Human Rights and Social Work 7: 417–427.

16.

Gilbert

(2007) Indigenous rights in the making: The United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights 14: 207–230.

17.

Healy

(2017) Situating social work within the post-2015 global agenda. European Journal of Social Work 20(1): 5–16.

18.

Healy

Thomas

(2021) International Social Work: Professional Action in an Interdependent World. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press.

19.

IASSW (2018) Global social work statement of ethical principles. Available at: www.iassw-aiets.org/global-social-work-statement-of-ethical-principles-iassw (accessed 20 November 2024).

20.

IFSW and IASSW (2014) Global definition of social work. Available at: www.ifsw.org/what-is-social-work/global-definition-of-social-work (accessed 22 November 2024).

21.

Indigenous Peoples’ Major Group for Sustainable Development (IPMG) (2019) UN High Level Political Forum: Inclusion, Equality, and Empowerment to Achieve Sustainable Development: Realities of Indigenous Peoples. IPMG.

22.

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) (2021) Executive Overview: Right to Self-Determination of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples. Organization of American States.

23.

International Federation of Social Workers (2025, December 10). Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the IFSW policy statement on Indigenous peoples & human rights. Available at: www.ifsw.org/commemorating-the-20th-anniversary-of-the-ifsw-policy-statement-on-indigenous-peoples-human-rights/

24.

International Federation of Social Workers (2024, August 8). Protecting the rights of Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact: Statement on International Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Available at: http://www.ifsw.org/protecting-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples-in-voluntary-isolation-and-initial-contact/

25.

International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) (n.d) Available at: www.iwgia.org/en (accessed 12 June 2025).

26.

Isa

(2019) The UNDRIP: An increasingly robust legal parameter. The International Journal of Human Rights 23(1–2): 7–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2019.1568994

27.

Keck

Sikkink

(1999) Transnational advocacy networks in international and regional politics. International Social Science Journal 51(159): 89–101.

28.

Lenzerini

(2019) Implementation of the UNDRIP around the world: Achievements and future perspectives. The outcome of the work of the ILA Committee on the Implementation of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The International Journal of Human Rights 23(1–2): 51–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2019.1568993

29.

Lewis

Kanji

Themudo

(2021) Non-Governmental Organizations and Development. Routledge.

30.

Libal

Healy

(2014) Bringing human rights home in social work education. In: Libal

Berthold

Thomas

, et al. (eds) Advancing Human Rights in Social Work Education. Council of Social Work Education, pp.121–142.

31.

Lightfoot

(2018) Using legislation to implement the UN declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. In: Craft

Gunn

Knockwood

, et al. (eds) UNDRIP Implementation: More Reflections on the Braiding of International, Domestic and Indigenous Laws. Centre for International Governance Innovation; Wiyasiwewin Mikiwahp Native Law Centre, University of Saskatchewan College of Law, pp.103–110.

32.

Lightfoot

(2016) Indigenous mobilization and activism in the UN system. In: Lennox

Short

(eds) Handbook of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights. Routledge, pp.253–267.

33.

Limbu

(2020) Autonomy for Indigenous Peoples in Asia: A path to justice, liberty and democracy. In: Dahl

Tauli-Corpuz

Sesen

, et al. (eds) Building Autonomies. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, pp.57–62.

34.

Mamo

(ed.) (2022) IWGIA—The Indigenous World 2022. 36th ed. Eks-Skolens Grafisk Design and Tryk.

35.

Minnick

O’Brien

(2018) Domestic Violence, Human Rights, and Postcolonial Intersectionality of Afro-descendent and Indigenous Women in Cuba and Guatemala. Journal of Human Rights and Social Work 12(3): 216–228.

36.

Morel

(2016) From theory to practice: Holistic strategies for effective advocacy. In: Lennox

Short

(eds) Handbook of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights. Routledge, pp.355–368.

37.

Mwapaura

Mushunje

Charamba

, et al. (2024) Interrogating the relevance of indigenous knowledge systems in social work education and practice: A human rights perspective. Journal of Social Development in Africa 39(2): 88–113.

38.

Ngai

(2023). Indigenous People Organizations’ Approaches to Social and Community Development in Cambodia. International Journal of Social and Community Development 5(4): 352–374.

39.

Odello

(2016) The United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. In: Lennox

Short

(eds) Handbook of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights. Routledge, pp.51–68.

40.

Paradies

(2016) Beyond black and white: Essentialism, hybridity and indigeneity. In: Lennox

Short

(eds) Handbook of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights. Routledge, pp.24–34.

41.

People’s Charter for an Eco-Social World (2022) Co-building a new eco-social world: Leaving no one behind. Available at: newecosocialworld.com/the-peoples-charter-for-an-eco-social-world (accessed 20 December 2023).

42.

Robertson

(1994) Globalisation or glocalisation? Journal of International Communication 1(1): 33–52.

43.

Rodríguez-Piñero

(2009) “Where appropriate”: Monitoring/implementing of Indigenous Peoples’ rights under the declaration. In: Charters

Stavenhagen

(eds) Making the Declaration Work: The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, pp.314–343.

44.

Roy

(2009) Indigenous Peoples in Asia: Rights and development challenges. In: Charters

Stavenhagen

(eds) Making the Declaration Work: The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, pp.216–231.

45.

Shrinkhal

(2021) “Indigenous sovereignty” and right to self-determination in international law: A critical appraisal. Alternative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples 17(1): 71–82.

46.

Smith

Mitchell

(2020) Development of an UNDRIP compliance assessment tool: How a performance framework could improve state compliance. The International Indigenous Policy Journal 11: 1–23. https://doi.org/10.18584/iipj.2020.11.2.10713

47.

Smith

KEI

(2008) Comparing state and international protections of Indigenous Peoples’ human rights. American Behavioral Scientist 51(12): 1817–1835.

48.

Song

LePage

Fang

(2022) The conflict between environmental justice and culture. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples 19(1): 1–7.

49.

Stamm

(2023) Human rights-based social work and the natural environment: Time for new perspectives. Journal of Human Rights and Social Work 8: 42–50.

50.

Stavenhagen

(2009) Making the declaration work. In: Charters

Stavenhagen

(eds) Making the Declaration Work: The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, pp.352–371.

51.

Tauli-Corpuz

(2014) Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. United Nations Human Rights Council.

52.

Tauli-Corpuz

(2020) The right of Indigenous Peoples to self-determination through autonomy or self-government. In: Limbu

Olsvig

Dahl

, et al. (eds) Building Autonomies. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, pp.13–15.

53.

Tebtebba (n.d.) Indigenous Peoples’ international centre for policy research and education. Available at: www.tebtebba.org/index.php/about/who-we-are (accessed 2 January 2025).

54.

Uddin

(2019) The Local Translation of Global Indigeneity: A Case of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 50(1): 68–85.

55.

UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) (2024) 62nd session of the commission for social development—CSocD62. Available at: social.desa.un.org/csocd/62nd (accessed 3 November 2024).

56.

United Nations (UN) (2007) United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Available at: social.desa.un.org/issues/indigenous-peoples/united-nations-declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples (accessed 10 January 2025).

57.

United Nations (UN) (2020) Note from seventy-fourth session general assembly by the secretary-general: Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In: Limbu

Olsvig

Dahl

, et al (eds) Building Autonomies. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, pp.33–52.

58.

Venne

(2011) The road to the United Nations and rights of Indigenous Peoples. Griffith Law Review 20(3): 557–577.

59.

Vivas-Barrera

Quintero-Sánchez

Pérez-Salazar

(2023) From terra nullius to Indigenous collective land rights cases before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples 19(1): 101–112.

60.

Weaver

Sloan

Barkdull

, et al. (2021) CSWE Statement of Accountability and Reconciliation for Harms Done to Indigenous and Tribal Peoples. Council on Social Work Education.

61.

Witter

Satterfield

(2018) The ebb and flow of indigenous rights recognitions in conservation policy. Development and Change 50(4): 1083–1108.

62.

World Bank (2011) Still among the Poorest of the Poor: Indigenous Peoples Country Brief. World Bank. Available at: documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/144831468330276370/still-among-the-poorest-of-the-poor (accessed 5 January 2025).