Happy Africa Day 25 May 2026

Happy Africa Day 🌍

Today, 25 May, we mark 63 years since the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963, now the African Union, built on the principles of unity, integration and development.

This year’s theme is “Sixty-three years of unity, integration and development, let’s celebrate together.”

As Mtandao members — social workers, development workers, academics, students, researchers and practitioners across the continent and diaspora — Africa Day is an opportunity to recognise the African knowledges, languages, philosophies and values that ground our work.

On this day we also celebrate the Association of Social Work Education in Africa (ASWEA), formed in 1965, just two years after the OAU, clearly motivated by that founding moment of continental unity. ASWEA laid the ground that Mtandao continues to build on today.

Ubuntu is often reduced to the phrase “I am because we are” but this captures only one of five levels. The fuller expression of Ubuntu recognises:

I am because of my family.

I am because of my community.

I am because of my society.

I am because of my environment.

I am because of my spirituality.

In Ubuntu, the individual is always seen through family, community, society, environment and the spiritual. No one ever walks alone. Reducing Ubuntu to a single phrase flattens a rich and layered philosophy. As social workers and development practitioners, we are called to engage with all five levels in our practice, research, teaching and organising across Africa.

The work of decolonising social work and development in Africa is part of this story. So is building a continental knowledge base that serves communities on African terms.

Join us for our own Africa Day Indaba on 28 May 2026.