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Two new grants from UNICEF will allow IntraHealth International to assess and strengthen Ethiopia’s social welfare workforce, which cares for and protects the country’s most vulnerable citizens.
IntraHealth staff will team up with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Education, and other partners to identify gaps in the workforce and recommend ways to grow and reinforce it.
Families and children who live with poverty, abuse, or hazardous working conditions often rely on the social welfare sector as a safety net. The workforce is made up of social workers, para-social workers, frontline volunteers, child and family probation officers, and others whose titles often differ by country. They connect families with available services and play a huge role in the wellbeing of any population.
IntraHealth will examine the current state of the workforce (What skills do they have? What are the workloads like? What are employees’ scope-of-work requirements?) and identify ways to provide better, more standardized training for the workers. Once the assessment is complete, Ethiopia will begin a coordinated effort to reinforce the country’s social service sector.
“Like the health sector, the social service sector struggles to attract and retain qualified workers,” according to the 2011 report, Investing in Those Who Care for Children. “Vacancy rates for established professional and para-professional positions within Africa range between 50%–60%, and half those employed leave their jobs within five years (as compared to seven years for health care workers). These statistics indicate a global crisis within systems of care and support for vulnerable children and a serious threat to global development.”
Ethiopia is the second-most populous African nation and the twelfth poorest country globally. Over one million of its people live with HIV, an epidemic that has created untold numbers of vulnerable children. With these new UNICEF awards (which total $311,302) IntraHealth will provide Ethiopia with the information it needs to bolster a vital part of its workforce.