LABOUR and Social Services minister Paurina Mpariwa has revealed that Zimbabwe has the lowest number of social workers compared to other countries in the region with one social worker attending to about 50 000 children.
By our Staff reporter
Mpariwa made the remarks on Thursday during the handover of the Children First Programme by World Education International at the United States Embassy.
The Children First programme, supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) since 2008, mitigates the effects of HIV and Aids on orphans and vulnerable children.
She said the skewed social worker-children ratio was first noted in 2010 during an internal audit by the Department of Social Services.
“The audit indicates that the ratio of social worker to children is in the order of 49 887 children per social worker,” Mpariwa said.
“This compares to 1 867 children to one social worker in Botswana and 4 300 children to one social worker in Namibia. That’s the regional comparison that we have and I want to pose this challenge to everybody.”
Mpariwa said the problem has been worsened by the recent blanket freeze on public service vacancies.
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Speaking at the same function, United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe David Bruce Wharton said 10% of the over $90 million US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) allocation to Zimbabwe would be dedicated to orphans and vulnerable children. Since its inception, the programme managed to develop a case management model to link grassroots support to district service structures, and build the capacity of staff at the Department of Social Welfare reaching over 125 000 children through health education and child protection activities. The function also posthumously honoured the late musician Sam Mtukudzi and a scholarship fund established in his name for being the first Children First Goodwill Ambassador. “He was an inspiration to the children,” read the citation.
