Anti-Racism Advisory Group (ARAG)

The Anti-Racist Advisory Group (ARAG) was set up in July 2020 following George Floyd ‘s murder in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA and the subsequent climate created by the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. In this respect George Floyd’s death is the catalyst that led to the development of the Antiracist strategy by the Anti-Racist Advisory group within IASW.  The ARAG is therefore not a special interest group but as its name suggests it is an advisory group which links in with the IASW Executive through its Co-ordinators and through annual reports, as stipulated in the Anti-Racism Strategy 2020-2023. Through implementation of its anti-racism strategy the ARAG aims to promote anti-racist practice in all areas of social work under the key headings: education/research, policy/advocacy, and Practice/CPD. We believe it is crucial that the IASW provides a platform for ongoing discussion of ‘Racism’ in social work given the impact of racism on ethnic minority social workers and service users. This platform encourages the required learning to effectively challenge systems and practices that perpetuate racism in social work and the wider society. 

Our 2020-2023 antiracism strategy can be found on the download section of this page.

We welcome social workers from all disciplines who are interested in anti-racist practice, and decolonisation of social work. If interested, in joining any of the workstreams you can signal your interest through the IASW office at: administrator@iasw.ie.

Strategic Goals and Actions of the (ARAG) 

1. To drive implementation of the anti-racism strategic plan (2021-2023) through coordinating the work of the 3 thematic work streams 

1. To deepen understanding of the negative impact of racism on the profession and foster new thinking whilst developing effective tools to dismantle it 

1. Targeted awareness training for specific practice domains and collaborative work with minorities as experts by experience 

1. Advocate for policies and procedures that strengthen race-based data collection and reporting including lobbying social work regulatory bodies for reform 

1. Reporting to IASW Board and members on progress as well as sharing lessons learnt through maintaining updated presence on the organisation’s website 

1. Develop Impact assessment frameworks and evaluation metrics for set deliverables 

Present Membership:

(ARAG) currently has a membership of 40 social workers from the various social work discipline areas. The leadership of the membership is as follows: 

Co-ordinators: Colletta Dalikeni & Hilda Loughran 

Work Stream Leaders:  

• Evelyn Oboh  
• Diane Ihirwe 
• Nisarg Nagwadia  
• Washington Marovatsanga 

Meetings:  

The Anti-Racism Advisory Group meets bi-monthly to coordinate the implementation activities of the anti-racism strategy from its 3 workstreams.  

Activities, Events and Highlights for the Year  

In accordance with the reporting guidance set out in the anti-racism strategy an annual report is issued at the end of every year. The first annual report of ongoing implementation activities will collated in December 2021.

Anti-Racism Resources: See Downloads Section.