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By Meluse Kapatamoyo
Zambia is this year set to table before parliament a bill that would seek to regulate social work practitioners in the country.
"The bill would strengthen social workers through the registration of
a control body to ensure proper conduct," said community development
deputy minister Friday Malwa.
He bemoaned the non-availability of licensing and standard certification of social work practitioners in the country.
“There is no way we can have a discipline that claims to be professional without having the relevant fundamentals such as a body of knowledge, code of ethics and a professional body. How can we as social workers in Zambia claim to be professionals when we do not have standards of certification as well as practice licenses?” Malwa asked.
He observed that social work demanded a legislation that governed and mandated the legal practice of social work in any given country, while underscoring the fact that social work was an important profession for the country.
Malwa noted: “It is sad that as social workers, we have left everything to chance and hence have made it possible for any person to practice social work at the expense of the well-being of vulnerable Zambians, and as such leaving them open to different types of vices. This is why we need a professional body for social workers to address this problem”.