Global health workforce challenges have deservedly received much attention in recent years and are being tackled in many positive and innovative ways at the country level. The social welfare workforce (SWW) in many countries is facing similarly complex, yet lesser known, challenges that are beginning to attract additional attention and support.
Since 2010, CapacityPlus has been working to strengthen the SWW by adapting and building on lessons learned from global and country responses to improve the health workforce. In January, Paul Marsden and I were part of a team that visited Malawi to meet with government representatives, implementing partners, and SWW leaders to identify how the project could contribute to country-led efforts to strengthen the SWW, particularly focusing on developing social workers and the social work profession to best support child protection services. Read more »
It's been about three weeks since I was in Malawi, and I haven't stopped thinking about the smiling faces of the health workers at the Pirimiti Community Hospital. As I watched them go about their work, I wondered what it was that kept the smiles on their faces. 
