Abstract
Following the directive by Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, on 30 March 2020 that restricted movements except for essential services as a measure to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Uganda, several professions and service providers agitated for their inclusion in the category of essential services. Classification of what was essential and nonessential has generated debate among social workers. With a spike in domestic and gender-based violence, stigmatization of persons with COVID-19, child abuse, and mental health problems, the debate about the role of social workers in addressing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic among the most vulnerable populations gained prominence. At a professional level, classification of some services as essential and nonessential risked flinging social workers into obscurity, thereby amplifying their historical marginalization in social service delivery in Uganda. These debates point to a problem bigger than the COVID-19 pandemic, and they are far from over. However, they present an opportunity to reimagine and theorize social work in Uganda and possibly beyond. We conducted interviews with frontline social workers and drew from our own experiential reflections on the historical and current status of social work in Uganda to show how the COVID-19 pandemic has shaped and reshaped social work as a profession that fosters social solidarity and resilience during pandemics.
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Notes
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See also, WHO Director General remarks during press briefing on March 11, 2020; https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19%2D%2D-11-march-2020.
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Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) is a management and governance structure of Uganda’s capital Kampala, responsible for everyday running and management of city affairs.
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Through the directive of the President, government in paying scientists (including university science staff) better/more than it pays arts/humanities staff at the same rank/level.
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Musinguzi, L.K., Twikirize, J., Kyamulabi, A., Muhangi, D. (2022). “Am I an Essential Worker?” COVID-19 and (Re)shaping of the Social Work Profession in Uganda. In: Gonçalves, M.d.C.d.S., Gutwald, R., Kleibl, T., Lutz, R., Noyoo, N., Twikirize, J. (eds) The Coronavirus Crisis and Challenges to Social Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84678-7_19
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