Uganda

Names of Social Work

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Country Profile

We are a heterogeneous society with the children claiming the largest number of the population.
Mainly depending on subsistence agriculture for family survival and community continuity.

Acknowledgements: Hope Kenneth

Template of Code of Ethics

  • Profile
    • Population: 45 million people
  • Social Work Education Institutions (SWEIs)
    • Makerere University, Department of Social Work and Social Administration, Kampala
    • Kampala International University
    • Uganda Christian University, Bishop Barham University College
    • Management Training and Advisory Centre, Kampala
    • Kabale University, Kabale 
    • Kumi University, Kumi
    • Makerere Institute for Social Development, Kampala
    • University of Kisubi, Entebbe
    • Kampala University, Ggaba
    • Kyambogo University, Department of Social Work and Social Administration
  • Organisationsand associationsof social work
    • National Association of Social Workers of Uganda (NASWU)
  • History of social services and social work
    • Stage of indigenous social services, social welfare and social security: services, welfare and social security were provided by the family, community and monarchies. As Twikirize said “Prior to the formal introduction of the profession, social work functions in Uganda were carried out by family and kinship systems. Individual needs and problems were addressed through the extended family and kinship system that was very strong in the pre-colonial era …The (traditional) chiefs and rulers had the responsibility to organise people and small communities to carry out services of a public nature regardless of kinship or tribe…These systems, in a way, constituted a form of social security. Problems such as family conflicts, orphanhood and child protection were handled within the extended family as well as the community. Children were considered not just to belong to the individual families but a community’s responsibility. Clan and communal sanctions helped to deal with problems that emerged in society. If a couple had marital conflicts, they did not have to go to formal institutions but instead would report to family and clan elders to help resolve the conflicts (p. 136).
    • Stage of colonial state social services and social work: state social services started when urban areas created by the colonists started experiencing social problems in the 1950s. The urban population swelled as a result of rural-urban migration. During this period, the majority of the population used indigenous approaches while state services were limited to white people and a few blacks. There were also services provided by colonial missionaries, some of them having arrived before colonial administrators . Describing this stage Twikirize (2014, p. 137) said “European Christian missionaries and subsequently the colonial administrators introduced services such as education, health and social welfare. The establishment of probation services, children’s homes and adoption services marked the beginning of formal social services. With this also came the concept of individual welfare.” During this stage, training of workers providing social services and welfare was done but “The education and practice essentially served the needs of the colonial government, and the education curriculum and practice roles focusing mainly on individual welfare and correctional services such as the management of juvenile delinquents and addressing the needs of the orphans and the homeless were reflective of the nature of social work in the colonising country (Twikirize, 2014, p. 137).
    • Stage of expanded state social services: with the achievement of independence from United Kingdom in 1962, the new African government expanded social services to the majority black people but indigenous services provided by the family and community remained functional. The Makerere University started social work training in 1969. Training institutions offering a diploma or degree qualification in Social work and Social Administration increased during this stage.
    • Stage of decolonised and developmental services: this stage can be said to be developing. The focus is on offering social work services that resonate with the indigenous approaches provided by the family and community.

Further reading: Janestic M. Twikirize, J. M. (2014) Social Work Education and Practice in Uganda: A Historical Perspective Professional Social Work East p. 136-148 in Africa Towards Social Development, Poverty Reduction and Gender Equality. Edited by Helmut Spitzer Janestic M. Twikirize and Gidraph G. Wairire. Kampala, Fountain.

Template: Roles of associations

Template: Roles of a professional associations of social workers

  • Creating a code of ethics relevant to Africa: To create a code of ethics guided by African values that have been used to provide social services since time immemorial.
  • Societal recognition: make social work known in families and communities including what social work is in local language, the roles of social workers and how the complement not replace or compete with the roles of families and communities. Presently, in most African communities, social work is not understood and at times it is hated because of its focus on western ideas, knowledge, philosophy, theories, methods and literature.
  • Creating a local definition of social work: to help social work being understood and appreciated. Definitions in local languages will be more useful.
  • Creating relevance: making social work in Africa more developmental to enable it to respond to the social issues, challenges and problems on the continent. Social work has to respond to mass poverty in a developmental not remedial way.
  • Professional recognition: To raise social work to the level of other professions, and to give social workers respect and recognition of their service.
  • Professional regulation: Ensure that social workers follow ethical principles that make them accountable for any professional misconduct, breach of ethics or confidentiality.
  • Professional standards: To oversee social worker’s performance, attitude towards families, communities, peers, profession and the society. This builds trust and ensures credibility of social work.
  • Training monitoring: To monitor social work training and fieldwork.
  • Produce literature: To research, write and publish relevant literature for social work training and fieldwork.
  • Advocacy: To advocate for social justice and social services.
  • Continuous training: To lead continuous professional development (CPD) of social workers and all people providing social services. This is important especially for social workers trained in the colonial period, those trained using colonial syllabus or those trained outside Africa.
  • Supporting and empowering indigenous services: To support families and communities in their roles of providing social services and not disempower them.
  • Trade unionism: Act as the trade union of social workers to represent their interests and labour rights as workers, entrepreneurs, volunteers and social innovators.
  • Consumerism: protect families, communities and employers from poor services from social workers, receiving complaints and dealing with them.
  • Collaboration with other associations: Work and collaborate with other professional bodies in the country, in the region, in Africa and globally.
  • Policy work: Creating policies or alternative policies to advance social development and to scrutinize existing policies of the government.
  • Recognising social workers: Celebrate social workers through national social work day, global social work day and providing awards to social workers, students, academics and social work organisations.
  • Networking: providing opportunities for social workers to network, share experiences and listen to others through indaba, conference, webinar, newsletters, journals, websites, social media e.g. groups of Facebook or WhatsApp, dinner etc
  • Decolonising: To decolonise social work to make it relevant to Africa communities, this work involves, among others
    • Using African philosophy, including values, ethics, theories, models etc
    • Using African ethics and removing colonial ethics
    • Using African literature and removing colonial literature
    • Using African academics and replacing non-African academics
    • Using a home grown syllabus, and replace colonial syllabus – in the process avoid brain drain
    • Using and valuing African methods, techniques and strategies of social work  and not non-African methods
    • Valuing African history of social work and Africans who have contributed to that history
    • Contributing African knowledge and methods to global social work and not just receiving global knowledge without scrutiny
    • To educate families, communities, organisations and government about how to remove colonial practices, methods, knowledge etc from the social work services that they provide
    • Generally, make African social work more developmental in approach so that the profession becomes relevant to our families, communities, organisations and government

Template: Structure of social development institutions

Template: Structure of Social Development Institutions

Institutions of social work or social development are structured differently in each country. Below we provide a list of institutions that are necessary.

  • Schools of Social Development or Social Work
  • Association of Schools of Social Development
  • Association of Students of Social Development
  • Association of Social Workers or Social Development Workers
  • Association of Educators of Social Development or Social Work
  • Association of Fieldwork Educators or Supervisors
  • Association of Public Social or Development Workers
  • Public Regulator of the Profession
  • Association of Community Workers or Community Development Workers
  • Association of Family Workers
  • Association of Environmental Social Workers
  • Association of Spiritual Social Workers
  • Alumni Associations

Please provide any additional information

If you have information on social work and development about this country, please email asw@africasocialwork.net