A strong social service workforce (SSW) is the backbone of effective child protection systems. Across Eastern and Southern Africa, social service workers play a critical role in preventing and responding to violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation of children. Yet, the workforce remains underfunded and understaffed, limiting its ability to deliver essential services. To address this gap, UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) has developed this Policy Brief summarizing the rationale and approach for building an investment case for strengthening the SSW.

This book explores the challenges facing orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe within the broader context of the Global South, highlighting how poverty, inequality, HIV/AIDS, and economic instability deepen children’s vulnerability. Drawing on Ubuntu philosophy, neoliberalism, and African Renaissance perspectives, it underscores the importance of community-led, culturally sensitive, and African-driven approaches to inform policy and practice supporting OVCs.

ACE Zambia, founded in 1998 as a faith-based organization supporting orphans and vulnerable children, gradually shifted from operating multiple residential care facilities toward strengthening family- and community-based services after recognizing the harms of long-term institutionalization. Between 2014 and 2025, the organization closed all residential homes, expanded preventative and family-focused programs, and ultimately increased its reach by supporting far more children in safe family settings using the same level of resources.

This review compares child protection systems in Indonesia and Ethiopia using UNICEF’s Child Protection System Strengthening framework. Both countries have established solid legal frameworks and coordination mechanisms, but progress toward system maturity remains slow due to gaps in enforcement, accountability, and support services, with Indonesia showing stronger development in workforce and data systems.

Cambiar la Forma en que Cuidamos (CTWWC, por sus siglas en inglés) es una iniciativa global que promueve un cuidado familiar seguro y afectuoso para los niños.

The Kenyan government has announced a plan to gradually reintegrate about 44,000 children currently living in private orphanages and children’s homes back to their families by 2032, under its 10‑year National Care Reform Strategy.

These SOPs aim to strengthen the effectiveness and well-being of Kenya’s child protection practitioners by promoting accountability, continuous learning, and reflective practice. By prioritizing practitioners’ psychosocial health and standardizing supportive supervision across the State Department for Children Services, the guidance seeks to improve service quality, reduce burnout, and enhance outcomes for vulnerable children.

This package of materials encompasses a comprehensive costing framework for scaling two key care reform models implemented by the Changing the Way We Care initiative in Kenya—Kafaalah and Case Management for Reintegration.

Changing the Way We Care’s “Care System Strengthening Learning Synthesis: Evaluation Summary” distills lessons from care reform efforts in four countries, examining how change happened across laws, workforce, financing, monitoring, and services. It finds that evidence-based advocacy, strong government ownership, collaboration, and capacity-building were central to driving and sustaining reform across diverse contexts.

This webinar showcased the learning from Strengthening the Social Service Workforce for Family-Based Care, a two-year project implemented by the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance, with technical support from Child Frontiers, under a grant f