Children in Zambia continue to experience high levels of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation, including harmful practices such as child marriage. Preventing and responding to these issues requires a well-planned, adequately resourced and professionally supported social service workforce that can deliver effective child protection services across the country.
UNICEF ESARO, working with UNICEF Zambia and the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services, commissioned Cornerstone Economic Research, in partnership with Maestral International to develop an investment case for strengthening Zambia’s social service workforce for child protection. The work formed part of a broader regional initiative to develop and test a methodology for making the economic and social case for increased government investment in the social service workforce.
The Zambia investment case highlights the urgent need to strengthen the workforce responsible for implementing child protection services. In June 2023, the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services employed 1,437 social workers and community development assistants across Zambia’s provinces and districts. This equated to only 17.5 staff per 100,000 children, compared with an average of 58 social service workforce staff per 100,000 children across Eastern and Southern Africa. The analysis also found that only 197 district social welfare officers were working at the frontline of service delivery, meaning that Zambia had just 2.4 frontline social workers per 100,000 children.
The research shows that underinvestment in the social service workforce has significant consequences for children, families, government services and the wider economy. Report 5 estimates the socio-economic costs of underfunding the social service workforce for child protection in Zambia, with violence against children estimated to cost the country ZMK40.4 billion in 2021, equivalent to 9.12 per cent of GDP. The analysis includes productivity losses, health sector costs, justice sector costs, child protection costs, quality-of-life losses, and broader effects on human development.
Report 6 draws together the findings from the full Zambia investment case series and presents a proposed pathway for strengthening the social service workforce. It recommends a systematic strengthening scenario that would progressively expand and support the workforce over an eight-year period. The proposed approach includes filling existing vacancies, strengthening supportive supervision, appointing social protection administrators to free social welfare officers to focus on core child protection work, expanding district-level staffing, improving training and professional development, and ensuring that staff have the operational budgets, office space and tools of trade required to deliver quality services.
The Zambia policy brief translates the findings into an accessible advocacy product, making the case for a well-planned, supported and resourced social service workforce as a critical investment in Zambia’s children and long-term development.
The three publications are now available:
- Policy Brief: Investing in Zambia’s Children. The economic case for a well-planned, supported and resourced social service workforce.
- Report 5: The socio-economic costs of underfunding the social service workforce for child protection – Zambia.
- Report 6: An investment case for strengthening the social service workforce for child protection – Zambia
