Abstract: Social workers have proposed various conceptual models to explain the
relationship between structural oppressions and poverty. These models are grounded in
critical social work and each provides an understanding of how systemic issues impact
the sustenance and reinforcement of poverty. With rapid economic globalization and
further social and economic exclusion faced by people, poverty has become even more
deep and complex. This paper argues for the adoption of a rights-based framework in
social work to address issues of endemic structural poverty. Grounded on the principle of
the inalienability of basic human rights, the rights-based approach changes the discourse
on poverty by creating accountability, equality, transparency and participation from
welfare states and civil society. The paper also provides a critique against traditional
human rights perspectives in poverty alleviation. The paper provides a context in which
the rights-based approach could be pursued in global as well as local contexts.