Abstract
Para social workers (PSWs) are widely used in African nations to address inadequate capacity in the professional workforce, but there is to date very little academic commentary on the effectiveness of their role. This article considers the potential efficacy of the PSW model in strengthening child protection at community level in Uganda. Twenty interviews were conducted with local government officers, civil society organisation staff and PSWs (10 in each of 2 rural areas), together with four supplementary expert interviews. The data were analysed using a framework of community resilience. The findings suggest that the model has considerable potential to strengthen community‐level protection of children in circumstances in which the operation of formal systems is limited by resource constraints and outside interventions may struggle to gain understanding and acceptance within communities. Challenges include the potential for conflicts of interest to arise and the implications of increased reporting of child maltreatment for the response of the formal child protection system, including alternative care arrangements. Given its widespread and developing usage, further research to understand the conditions under which the PSW model is most effective and sustainable in different social, economic, political and cultural contexts is essential.‘This article considers the potential efficacy of the PSW [para social worker] model in strengthening child protection at community level in Uganda’Key Practitioner Messages PSWs can provide significant additional capacity to community‐level child protection arrangements at little cost in a culturally appropriate fashion. A key strength of the PSW model lies in its potential to regenerate community resources through the engagement of community members. Developing sustainable community‐based child protection arrangements requires that attention is paid to balancing fiscal considerations against community ownership and also the response of the formal child protection system to increased reporting of child maltreatment.
Highlights
There are currently few empirical data on the operation of the statutory child protection system in Uganda (Child et al, 2014), but evidence that poor awareness of legislation and failures in enforcement at local level create barriers to tackling child maltreatment (Ochen et al, 2017; Kaawa-Mafigiri & Walakira, 2017)
D1-SPO said: ‘the biggest, biggest challenge is resilience...communities still tend to look at these children, if they are uncles or aunties, instead of protecting these orphans, they are the ones taking away their property’
Analysis of the data relating to the role of para social workers with the qualities and resources associated with community resilience in mind led to the construction of four core categories: Leaders for change; Information and communication; Community ownership; and Agency and selforganisation
Summary
There are currently few empirical data on the operation of the statutory child protection system in Uganda (Child et al, 2014), but evidence that poor awareness of legislation and failures in enforcement at local level create barriers to tackling child maltreatment (Ochen et al, 2017; Kaawa-Mafigiri & Walakira, 2017). The Children Act 1997 vests responsibility for safeguarding children and family mediation in the local councils which operate from village up to district level. These structures operate according to customary law and the exercise of discretion (Nakayi, 2013), but in the absence of local council elections from 2001-2018, have been largely non-existent or inoperable for much of the past twenty years
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