Zimbabwe still faces a serious shortage of social workers with one worker dealing with over 14 000 children.
by Phyllis Mbanje
Although the figure has dropped from an all-time high of 42 000 in 2010, stakeholders have said it is still too high and threatens the delivery of top-notch services to the needy groups which include abused minors.
“The social workers are on the frontline in dealing with vulnerability. They are the unsung heroes shouldering the burden,” Unicef’s country representative Reza Hossaini said during a Council of Social Workers (CSW) breakfast meeting.
According to a study on sexual violence conducted in 2013, only 2,4% of abused girls managed to access social services, while none of the boys in the same dilemma received any support.
“Providing social services is a mandatory task and government only cannot carry out that task. There is need for partnerships and co-ordination,” Reza said.
A police officer with the Victim Friendly Unit, Inspector Sengwe, speaking during the same event said some cases from as far back as 2012 were still pending because they were still waiting for reports from probation officers who were seized with other cases.
“This issue of shortages of social workers has affected our concluding of reported cases because it is taking long to get the reports from the probation officers,” she lamented.
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Social protection service delivery systems in Zimbabwe have deteriorated since 2000 because of the economic downturn which saw the majority of qualified professional social workers leaving the country.
CSW chairman Phillip Bohwasi said they were also challenged with the issue of registering practicing social workers.
“Only 800 social workers are registered countrywide and that concerns us because we cannot then monitor the kind of services being proffered by the unregistered workers,” Bohwasi said.
CSW was enacted by the President and Parliament in 2001 and its mandate is to register, train and supervise social workers. It is also tasked with assessing qualifications of those trained outside the country.
Another issue of concern was the substandard curriculum which is being used in the schools of social work which threatens delivery of sufficient services to the vulnerable groups like abused children that need social support.
“It has just been photocopied and passed on to the schools of social work. There is need for reskilling and retraining,” he said.
