In a recent conversation with Hugh Salmon, Director of the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance, Garmai Tokpah, Liberia’s Deputy Minister of Children and Social Protection, reflected on the resilience and growth of Liberia’s social service workforce. Shaped by the country’s turbulent history of civil conflict and health crises like Ebola and COVID-19, the workforce has evolved from volunteer-led efforts to a professionalized system with formal training programs and strategic development plans. The conversation highlights the critical steps Liberia has taken—and continues to take—to build a sustainable workforce.
Question: How has Liberia’s past, marked by conflict and health emergencies (Ebola and COVID-19), shaped the current social service workforce landscape?
Answer: Liberia has recognized the significance of building a strong social service workforce amid its challenging history of conflict and health crises. Although there were initially no formally trained professional social workers, in the aftermath of the civil conflict, volunteers were mobilized and supervised by social workers from international NGOs to provide essential social services including psychosocial support for children formerly associated with armed groups, and facilitating interim care including family tracing, reunification and reintegration of these children. They also supported unaccompanied and separated children through case management, helped both internally displaced persons and refugees access vital services, and carried out community sensitization to prevent violence against children. This recognition of the workforce’s value led to the establishment of formal training programs: first a social work certificate course in 2003, then an associate degree program, and by 2006, a full bachelor’s degree in social work, creating a pipeline for training local professionals.
Question: What was the role of the social service workforce in this journey?
Answer: During the Ebola outbreak and COVID-19 pandemic, social workers played a critical role in delivering psychosocial support to affected children and families, disseminating information on available services, providing interim care for children whose families were in treatment units, and coordinating family contact and reunification. Liberia’s workforce has emerged stronger from these crises. There are now four universities offering four-year bachelor’s degrees in social work, a national board of social work and a professional association, as well as a comprehensive workforce mapping and a strategic development plan. Liberia has come a long way and has incorporated experience from the humanitarian, peace and development nexus. The lessons from these experiences continue to guide and shape the landscape of the social service workforce.
Question: What are the immediate next steps that Liberia needs to take to move towards a more sustainable workforce development for the protection of children and other vulnerable populations?
Answer: The country’s next steps will be to enact legislation to professionalize the workforce, put in place a standardized social work curriculum that leads to professional licensing and accreditation, and a national database to monitor and track the social service workforce. The government is also working on costing and financial planning for workforce development and service delivery. Together these measures will build a foundation for a sustainable and skilled social service workforce capable of protecting children and supporting vulnerable populations.