Ubuntu-based social work: what can social workers in Global South learn from Ubuntu to promote children welfare in communities?

ABSTRACT

This article uses the Ubuntu paradigms to reflect on the ways in which community-level values and frameworks can be recognised, strengthened and used to promote children’s welfare. We present a literature review and documented practical examples from African Ubuntu communities in Global South that strongly emphasise the collectivist approach in their ways of life. With a further examination of the Ubuntu philosophy, we identify common values and patterns that can be instrumental in fostering child welfare. These are volunteerism, solidarity, vigilance, morality and hospitality. We underline these informal standards as not only crucial to social workers providing interventions for children that belong to families and communities that are interdependent in nature, but as well present an Ubuntu social work model that can be a benchmark for social work practice with children and families in multicultural communities in Global North. The result is the humanisation of child protection systems and the development and strengthening of informal community protection networks.

KEYWORDS:

• Ubuntu
• children
• welfare
• social work

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joventine Mulumba

Joventine Mulumba, Medical Social Worker, Kiruddu National referral Hospital: Kampala, UG. MA Advanced Dev't in Social Work, University of Lincoln (UK), Aalborg University (Denmark), ISCSP-University of Lisbon (Portugal), University of Paris Quest Nanterre La Défense (France) and University of Warsaw (Poland).

Maria Irene Carvalho

Maria Irene Carvalho, Social Worker, BA, MD and PhD in Social Work. Associate professor at ISCSP, Universidade de Lisboa. Integrate at Research Centre for Public Administration and Public Policies, ISCSP, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.