The social service workforce plays an important role within social protection systems by connecting children, individuals, and families with a range of social services across sectors. Despite the increasing challenge of poverty and vulnerability exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict and climate change, as well as the increasing recognition of the role of social service workers, investments in strengthening the workforce remain low across most countries. This presentation aims to clarify the role of the social service workforce in the social protection system. It also outlines key considerations for strengthening the social service workforce in their integral role in delivering effective and efficient social protection programmes and services.

This global webinar addressed the need to give greater priority to adolescent mental health, globally, and particularly in low- and middle- income countries. Experts from RTI International, Plan International, Johns Hopkins University, and AstraZeneca share research findings and present new analysis of global data with the aim of motivating and guiding action to improve adolescent mental health.

Kinship care (care by extended family or friends of the family) is the most common form of alternative care in the region, yet also the least well-supported.  This webinar explains why it is vital to invest in kinship care and provide examples of promising practic

This study sets out a framework to help reduce the number of children living in poverty and prevent more families from falling into financial distress.

Disrupting Harm in South Africa is the 13th in a series of reports which shares the findings of children’s perceptions of and participation in various online practices, as well as exposes their experiences of online child sexual exploitation and abuse in South Africa.

This is the monthly update of the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Learning Platform published in October 2022. 

У цьому звіті Незалежна міжнародна слідча комісія по Україні посилатиметься на висновки щодо подій наприкінці лютого та в березні 2022 року в чотирьох областях: Київській, Чернігівській, Харківській та Сумській, відповідно до вимог резолюції S-34/1 Ради з прав людини. 

В этом отчете Независимая международная комиссия по расследованию событий в Украине будет ссылаться на выводы о событиях в конце февраля и марте 2022 года в четырех областях: Киевской, Черниговской, Харьковской и Сумской, как того требует резолюция Совета по правам человека S-34/1.

In this report, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine will refer to findings about events during late February and March 2022 in the four regions of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Sumy, as requested by Human Rights Council resolution S-34/1. 

This ISS study of the child protection system as it particularly relates to alternative care was commissioned by UNICEF Ukraine. This report contains an overview of the child protection and alternative care system in Ukraine based on the process of a desk review and a 10 day fact finding mission in Ukraine in February 2020 undertaken by a team of experts from International Social Service (ISS).

În 2021-2022, CTWWC în parteneriat cu trei organizații ale societății civile: Keystone Moldova, Copil, Comunitate, Familie (CCF Moldova) și Asociația Parteneriate pentru Fiecare Copil (P4EC), a realizat o serie de cercetări la nivel național, inclusiv evaluarea complexă a șase instituții rezidențiale (IR).

During 2021-2022, Changing the Way We Care in partnership with three civil society institutions: Keystone Moldova, Child, Community and Family (CCF Moldova) and Partnerships for Every Child (P4EC), conducted a series of assessments on the national level, including a complex evaluation of six residential institutions (RI).

Para garantizar que las personas que han vivido en cuidados alternativos puedan participar de los procesos y decisiones para mejorar los sistemas de cuidado, Doncel junto a la Red Latinoamericana de Egresados de Protección, Better Care Network y Cambiando la Forma en Que Cuidamos (Changing The Way We Care en inglés) llevaron adelante el primer mapeo regional de activistas que vivieron en cuidados alternativos en América Latina y el Caribe.

This document outlines 5 key steps that serve as an effective blueprint for a successful reintegration process of children and disabilities. These include ‘engagement’, ‘Assessment’, ‘Design & Development’, ‘Transition’, and ‘Monitoring & Evaluation’.

This report presents the findings from the National Survey of Residential Centres for Children with Disabilities in Rwanda. The survey aimed at gathering comprehensive and disaggregated data related to residents’ characteristics, staff profile, and the minimum standards for the centres.

This study is part of the response to the global call for the provision of quality alternative family-based care and prevention of family separation for children with disabilities. The study is premised on the view that the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding the attributes assigned to, and the conceptualization of, children with disabilities in their families and communities, vis-à-vis institutional care for children with disabilities, are also crucial determinants of barriers/ enablers of full and meaningful integration of children with disabilities into community life in Rwanda.

This paper concentrates on the discussion of some contextual issues along with the challenges that are closely associated with social work practice at Macro, Mezzo and Micro levels of intervention. Here in the paper, theoretical approaches and techniques that are significantly applicable in social work practice have been presented along with some challenge-related contexts in social work practice in Bangladesh.

In order to understand the issues faced by the children and young people who get in touch with child helplines, Child Helpline International interviews members around the world every year to gather information about the contacts they receive. This report provides an overview of the information recieved for 2021. 

This paper aims to enable policy makers, civil society and advocacy groups to better articulate the value of the social service workforce in health systems through a presentation of the latest evidence on social service workforce roles, functions and promising practice models, and related influence on health outcomes and costs. Based on interviews, research and data from a range of countries, it outlines key challenges, opportunities and recommendations around effective and sustained deployment of the social service workforce when located in or linked to health facilities.

This report introduces the limitations of orphanages, the importance of caring for children in families, and how to shift support to strengthen families, increase alternative family care options, and empower communities. This resource shares inspiring stories, engaging graphics, and explores tangible examples of work being done around the world to see children cared for in safe and loving families.

The purpose of this guidance is to advise policy makers and planners on how to apply a set of variables to their specific context to enable them to calculate the costs of human resources required to meet a target minimum ratio of social service workers per population, in the country in question. The guidance first discusses the essential steps that need to be taken to prepare for a costing exercise, and then the specific steps to take in a costing exercise for the workforce, which are outlined in the costing tool itself (to be released at a later date).

Although care reform is well established in some parts of the Eastern and Southern Africa, many countries in the region are just beginning their care reform journey. This short paper is aimed at these contexts. It explains what care reform is, the different components of care reform, why care reform is important and how to start a care reform process.