You are here

>
>
>
A Call to Action: Strengthening the Social Service Workforce to Better Protect Children and Achieve the SDGs

A Call to Action: Strengthening the Social Service Workforce to Better Protect Children and Achieve the SDGs

Nicole Brown's picture
Submitted by Nicole Brown on Mon, 09/24/2018 - 12:00am

A Call to Action for Strengthening the SSWDay 1, September 24, Social Service Workforce Week

Today marks day one of Social Service Workforce Week. Celebrated annually for the last five years, the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance invites you to get involved throughout the week in advocating for greater funding, policy and programmatic support for the social service workforce. The week’s theme is A Call to Action: Strengthening the Social Service Workforce to Better Protect Children and Achieve the SDGs, and we invite you to join these efforts.

To gain the attention and funding levels needed to ensure a well-trained, well-developed and well-supported workforce, greater advocacy efforts are needed. The Sustainable Development Goals provide an unprecedented opportunity to influence national and international development policy and programs while highlighting the intersections between the work of the social service workforce and those working on health challenges, violence prevention and migration. Through amplifying our collective voice, we can garner greater attention and actions to strengthen the frontline workforce that will be vital to achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals,

Blogs, social media posts, case studies, worker profiles and new resources will be shared daily during Social Service Workforce Week to increase attention and prompt planning for realizing the recommendations within the recently launched Call to Action. This advocacy tool makes recommendations at the country and global level for governments to initiate, lead and engage in dialogue with partners for these efforts.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


To date, 31 organizations have signed on to the Call to Action to show their shared commitment for a strong social service workforce that is best positioned to meet the needs of vulnerable children, youth, families and communities. Some examples of how these organizations are supporting workforce strengthening include:

  • HealthProm trains social service professionals working in the health, social care, and education sectors in areas ranging from child protection to inclusive education for children with disabilities. HealthProm strives to strengthen their capacity so that they can drive local change to improve services, reduce stigma, and strengthen relevant policy. In Tajikistan, HealthProm is working with UNICEF and the Tajik Government to advance training and legislature in child protection. In addition to jointly developing the first ever national guidelines on child protection, the organization also provides training for both government and non-government social service professionals.  

  • IntraHealth International has been able to act on the learning from situational analysis and support government system and workforce strengthening efforts at the national level in Botswana. Working with other NGOs and government, action has been taken to form a technical leadership team to assume ownership of national level efforts, complete an assessment of the existing system of enrolling children in social protection/welfare services (such as cash transfers and OVC grants), and determine which gaps to address within structures, systems and procedures. Based on results, the project is planning contributions to the launch of the government's new National Social Protection Framework.

  • To fulfill Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative’s (REPSSI) vision of all girls, boys and youth enjoying psychosocial and mental wellbeing, REPSSI country programs are encouraging government and other partners to establish or reinvigorate national level workforce leadership groups, or national Social Services Workforce task teams, in all 13 countries of East and Southern Africa where REPSSI works. REPSSI is committed to professionalizing the community-level social service workforce and collaborates with national academic institutions to achieve this.

  • Learn more about how UNICEF and the Global Partnership to End Violence are supporting social service workforce strengthening efforts nationally and globally during a webinar on Thursday, September 27. The webinar will feature speakers providing background about Pathfinder Countries and the National Plans of Action, UNICEF’s role in helping countries realize the strategies outlined in the INSPIRE package, advocacy efforts to call for greater attention to the workforce in these efforts, and a country-based example about the integration of workforce strengthening into national plans to address violence against children.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Join Us for a Week of Advocacy

Throughout the week, we will be highlighting the various ways that NGOs, country governments, UNICEF, and other collaborators are supporting social service workforce strengthening. Blogs during Social Service Workforce Week will include country case studies as examples of how country-level recommendations are being implemented and could be replicated in other countries. The blog on Day 5 will outline steps you and your organization can take toward achievement of the country and global level actions outlined in the Call to Action.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Get Involved

  • Download the Call to Action and share with your network. Available in English and Spanish.

  • Show your support by adding your organization's logo to the Call to Action. Email the Alliance with your organization's logo.

  • Share stories from your organization by emailing the Alliance about effective advocacy approaches you have implemented, including positive outcomes achieved, and country or global level actions as outlined in the Call to Action that you are involved in.

  • Circulate this blog and the other daily blogs during Social Service Workforce Week to raise awareness and increase the number of supporters for strengthening the social service workforce.

  • Join the Alliance by becoming a member. You will receive a daily email during Social Service Workforce Week and regular updates you can use to actively advocate for the workforce.

  • View the webcast from the Alliance’s 5th Annual Symposium on the launch of the Call to Action and remarks by Together for Girls and the World Bank on the importance of a strong social service workforce.

  • Further your support through a donation to the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance. Contributions will be used to support the Alliance’s work toward strengthening the workforce.