The survey is now open. Use the link or scan QR code to start the survey.

• Invitation
• Aim
• Benefits of participating
• Researchers
• Ethics
• What we are asking you to do?
• Instructions

Invitation

Kanimambo | Zikomo kwambili | Murakoze | Maita basa | Asante sana | Urakoze cyane | Twa totela | Twa tota | Twa lumba | Wafwako | Twa sakidila Aksanti | Merci | Mwebale nyo | Jerejef | Abarrka | Au jarama | Osoko | Ese gan | Nagode | Da alu | Likpakpanl | Konkomba | Anilituln | Aw ni tchié | Baarka | Takuta | Mwapicita | Mwaita basa | Tatenda | Obrigado | Choukran | شكرا

Thank you for your interest in this research. We respectfully invite you to participate in a research on social problems, issues and challenges in Africa. Details of the project are provided below.

Aim 

We are researching social problems and challenges in Africa to provide evidence for teaching, learning and practice in social work and development. The starting point before social work intervention is to define and understand the issues, problems and challenges. An understanding of them then leads to informed decision making and planning. In this research, we are giving social workers and development workers an opportunity to share their views on social issues, problems and challenges. 

Benefits of participating

The major benefit of participating in this research is improvement of the understanding of social issues, problems and challenges in Africa. This will benefit training institutions, writers and practitioners in knowing whwre they are doing right, where gaps are and what needs to be prioritised. For the researchers themselves, completing the research itself is a learning opportunity since we have structured the statements and questions in such a way that you will be learning about social issues, problems and challenges. The other outcome is that the research will be published as a report, book chapter (potentially book) and journal article to enable more people to read. The longer terms outcome is that knowledge gained will shape training and interventions, and ultimately benefits everyone. 

Researchers

• Dr Rugare Mugumbate, School of Health and Society, University of Wollongong, Australia; Convenor ASWNet; Department of Social Work & Community Development, Faculty of Humanities, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
• Associate Professor Magnus Mfoafo-M’Carthy, Associate Professor at the Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario, Canada.
• Dr Admire Chereni, Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa
• Alemayehu Gebru, Jimma University, School of Social Work, Ethiopia.
• Dr William Abur, Lecturer in Social Work, Department of Social Work, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
• Mrs Bawani Mutshewa, Coordinator for Health and Wellness Centre at University of Botswana. 
• Ashely Ropafadzo Tome, Women’s University in Africa, Zimbabwe.
• Abdulkerime Mohammed, Lecturer, Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia.
• Dr Nokukhanya Khanya Ndhlovu, Department of Philosophy, University of Fort Hare, East London, South Africa.

All researchers are members of Kuumba Mentoring Group (KMG), a mentoring program facilitated by the African Social work Network (ASWNet).

Ethics 

This study has been reviewed by the African Independent Ethics Committee (AIEC) (Ethics Advice Reference Number EA0234). For concerns or advice, please email ethics@africasocialwork.net or visit https://africasocialwork.net/african-independent-ethics-committee/. We will adhere to the ethics guidelines set by the AIEC, in particular:

•  We will ask questions through a decolonial lens.
• We will share results with participating institutions before they are published.
• The questionnaire we have used is open access, and can be used for teaching or research. You can access it here: www.africasocialwork.net/free-research-tools
• Participation in the survey is voluntary.
• The survey is anonymous, meaning, we will not know who responded. 
• The data will be available on request for use in non-commercial research.

What we are asking you to do? 

You are being asked to complete an online survey that takes about 20-40 minutes on your smart phone, tablet, laptop or desktop. You will need to be connected to the internet to complete and submit the survey. There is no risk in taking part in this study. There are no rewards or incentives for participating.

Instructions

• Each question has information about what you are being asked to do.
• You can be asked to select a number or name of country, rate using a slider, tick boxes or write text.
• Almost all questions are compulsory.
• Some questions are long, but you will be given a warning to let you know. We thank you in advance for your time in answering all the questions.
• Because this research has not been done before, we really need the voices of African social workers and development, so we have made all questions compulsory but made sure that answering the questions is easy and can be done quickly. 
• PLEASE TAKE TIME TO UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION AND PROVIDE THE MOST APPROPRIATE RESPONSE FOR ALL QUESTIONS. 
• Click the arrow at the end of each page to go to the next page or to go back. 
• To start the survey, click the Go to Questions button at the bottom right of the first page. 

There is a lot happening in Africa all the time, and we are looking for bloggers to write on these happenings from a social work and development perspective. Examples include:

• The recent events in Kenya where youths demonstrated against government priorities, taxation, external borrowing and toxic policies of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank that the President William Ruto led Government pursues.
• The recent elections in South Africa where the ANC (a party founded by Black people) failed to get a majority. President Cyril Ramaphosa's is forming a government of national unity with the DA (a party founded by White people). As a result, empowerment through land return (which has been too slow) and other poverty eradication strategies are under threat.
• The proposed new law to support and strengthen the African version of families in Ghana which is under threat from a colonising western view of families.

HOW OFTEN AM I EXPECTED TO SUBMIT A BLOG?

If you become a regular blogger, expect to submit a blog weekly, monthly or at irregular intervals of your choice.

OUR SIMPLE BLOG POLICY

Blogging the African Way

In practice, this means prioritising Africa's philosophy (knowledge - values, ethics and theories of family, community, society, environment and spirituality), using Africa-centred images and artefacts, valuing Africa's languages and orature (stories, proverbs, metaphors, videos etc) and being original and creative with text and images.

LENGTH

Toto blog - about 100-300 words. Maximum 350 words.

Ndefu blog - 350-1000 words.

Pictures, images, web links, videos, graphics are acceptable and do not contribute to the word count but we reserve the right to reduce size and length.

HOW DO I REGISTER OR SUBMIT MY FIRST BLOG ARTICLE?

 To become a regular blogger, please email us the information below.

• Blog name (this may not be a real name but we suggest something modest like Your Respect Name, Clan Name, Place of Origin etc).
• Email address (will not be published without your consent
• Brief Biography (will not be published without your consent)
• How often do you want to submit a blog (irregular intervals, weekly or monthly)?
• Your first Blog Post (Please include Title and Full text of Post, Maximum 1000 words)