VALUE OF THE COMMUNITY BASED WORK FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH (CBWCY) CERTIFICATE FOR GOVERNMENT FRONTLINE WORKERS by Yolam Chiwanda Chief Social Welfare Officer Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare Malawi

1. Introduction 2. Problem analysis and Response by the Dept. of Social Welfare 3. Outcome of the response 4. Training of CPWs in CBWCY course 5. Supervision of CPWs and its objectives 6. Feedback by CPWs on CBWCY course 7. Findings and observations by the Dept of Social Welfare 8. Challenges 9. Way forward 10. Conclusion

 Children in Malawi, just as in many other developing countries, experience physical, emotional and psychological challenges requiring psychosocial support.  Factors such as poverty, HIV and AIDS, social conflicts often result in family breakdown with far reaching consequences for children.

 In the early 2000 there was a general concern that issues that affect children were not being addressed adequately

 Conducted analysis of the situation to determine a model intervention to address the problem.  Absence of frontline workers in the community affected response to issues affecting children.  From 2004 to 2005 the Ministry trained 800 child protection workers - two-weeks per training  Placed them at community level in all the 28 districts of the country.  300 hundred are on government pay roll

 Level of understanding on child rights significantly increased e.g. Right to education, child neglect, emotional abuse  Surge in the number of reported cases of child abuse and suffering. Such abuses include sexual, child labour, neglect etc.  Child protection workers have become first point of contact on many issues affecting children in the communities, including issues of abuse.

 In 2010 the Ministry entered into partnership with REPSSI, UNICEF, and the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal to train its Social Workers in CBWCY, among other beneficiaries of the course  The opportunity was extended to child protection workers.  Of the over 200 graduates of the CBWCY, 100 of them were child protection workers as at December,  In the current intake, at least 16 of the 151 students are CPWs

 In March 2015, REPSSI supported the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare to conduct a supervisory visit of the CPWs of the CBWCY course in collaboration with Magomero College, who deliver the programme  PURPOSE OF THE VISIT: To strengthen the provision of psychosocial support.  30 Alumni were visited in six districts of the country

1.To assess utilisation of the knowledge and skills 2.To assess the impact of the training on the community 3.To provide back-up support to the trained community based Child Protection Workers (CPWs) 4.To assess suitability of the Child Protection Workers for possible promotion in the hierarchy of the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare.

The CBWCY course is useful. It has enhanced their knowledge and skills in working with children, their families/guardian, communities and local development structures. All the CPWs visited indicated that the mode of training was practical. Most of the issues over the course of their training related well to their work. Community leaders also commended the CPWs for their effectiveness in working with various structures in the community, following the course.

The CBWCY course is very effective in the delivery of social welfare services, especially for the frontline workers who reside and work in the community. It is building the capacity of the frontline workers who are in direct contact with children, their families and communities The course has motivated the workers as they now have an internationally recognised professional certificate.

Children and communities who are direct beneficiaries of the services offered by the CBWCY/CPWs expressed satisfaction with performance of the workers.

 Few Child Protection Workers have undergone the CBWCY course resulting in few communities benefiting from their professional experience.  Staff turn over as the workers may go for greener pastures.  The capacity of government to absorb those CPWs who may be eligible may be limited due to inadequate resources.  The CBWCY course has reached only 9 of the 28 districts of the country

 The Department of Social Welfare is currently working closely with the Department of Human Resources to consider promoting deserving CPWs to the higher grade of Social Welfare Assistant in the Department of Social Welfare, especially those who have the Malawi School Certificate of Education – MSCE (equivalent to GCE O level) in addition to having the CBWCY certificate.

 The Malawi Government would like to express sincere gratitude and appreciation to REPSSI, the UKZN, UNICEF and other partners for their support in building the capacity of its front line workers in psychosocial support.  We look forward to continued partnership so that many districts are reached.