Strengthening Zimbabwe’s Social Services Workforce to Help Orphans and Vulnerable Children
While HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe has declined, there remains an estimated 1.6 million children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS, according to the National Action Plan for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) 2011-2015. Their resulting needs are not fully met by the country’s limited workforce for child welfare and protection.
The Government of Zimbabwe and its implementing partners are seeking to address the challenges and priorities of the social services workforce. The majority of child welfare and protection services are coordinated and delivered through a mix of formal social work providers employed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Services, other government agencies (health, education, justice, etc.) and nonformal providers through a network of nongovernment and community-based organizations.
Issues affecting workforce capacity include out-migration, limited funding, reduced numbers of qualified social workers in post, poor working conditions, and perceived high workloads. Additional challenges include limited planning and coordination between agencies and stakeholders, and the lack of systems and data on the availability, distribution, and effectiveness of the workforce at all levels of service delivery.
From July 11-20, CapacityPlus’s Paul Marsden collaborated with government agencies, implementing partners, stakeholders, and service providers to explore how best to support Zimbabwe’s efforts to strengthen the social services workforce. Marsden engaged these groups in a rapid workforce assessment and gap analysis, proposing workforce strengthening options and potential interventions to increase access and availability of quality child welfare, support, and protection services—particularly to the most vulnerable and at-risk children—and to help rebuild the social welfare workforce capacity needed to coordinate and implement these services effectively.
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Photo by Paul Marsden. (Caregiver and children at TOSE Respite and Care Centre, Harare)
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