article · Journal of Comparative Social Work
Zimbabwe and South Africa have both committed to international human rights instruments, including the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Nevertheless, children with disabilities in both nations continue to face institutionalised exclusion. By evaluating existing secondary literature, the research applies social work perspectives to investigate this persistent marginalisation. It examines methods through which social workers can facilitate the full inclusion of children with disabilities across educational tiers, as well as throughout social welfare and healthcare systems. In addressing these systemic obstacles, the work identifies practical pathways for state and non-state social workers to operate within challenging socio-economic contexts. The ultimate goal is to support these professionals in promoting improved social functioning and rights protections for affected children.
Legal treaties often fail to translate into everyday protections for vulnerable populations. By highlighting how social workers can actively bridge policy and practice in Zimbabwe and South Africa, this research underscores practical interventions needed to ensure children with disabilities gain equal access to education, welfare, and healthcare in resource-constrained environments.
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Of a total of 166 countries that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, two African countries—Zimbabwe and South Africa—have undertaken to uphold the legal obligations imposed by this treaty as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN, 1989). Despite the existence of these robust and enabling human rights frameworks, children with disabilities (CWDs) in these two countries remain excluded. Using perspectives from Zimbabwe and South Africa, the aim of this secondary literature-based article is to apply social work lenses in exploring the intractable challenge of the institutionalized exclusion of CWDs. The article will also examine how social workers could support the inclusion of CWDs at all levels of education and in all welfare and health services. The article concludes by offering pathways by which state and non-state social workers in the two countries can navigate differing socio-economic challenges to guarantee enhanced social functioning of CWDs.
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DOI: 10.31265/tz0znb94
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