THE Institute of Social Work (ISW) has introduced a community engagement outreach programme aimed at addressing social problems and enables better understanding of community needs and aspirations.
The Programme coordinator, Ms Rukia Mwinyi, says the programme is part of enforcement of community engagement guidelines of the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children.
She was speaking in Dar es Salaam during a briefing session with social welfare officers and Kijitonyama ward officers on the programme, in Kijiyonyama Ward in Kinondoni Municipality.
“Our main aim as a social work institute is to engage communities, particularly on social welfare issues. Communities have an opportunity of sharing their social problems with social welfare officers and other experts from the institute in order to solve them. We use a participatory approach as the best way of knowing community problems and finding solutions for them, together with community and their local government leaders,” Ms Mwinyi said.
According to her, the programme that started in Kijitonyama Ward in Kinondoni Municipality will spread to other communities of Dar es Salaam Region.
“We will start here (Kijitonyama Ward) and expect to reach other people in the community. Our aim is to ensure the community engagement programs are implemented as planned,” she pointed out.
Ms Mwinyi, who is also a lecturer at the Institute of Social Work, said, “We focused to engage communities in addressing social problems in order to improve the psychosocial wellbeing of individuals and families and to address socio-economically related problems in communities,” she remarked.
Health Officer from Kijitonyama Ward Ms Vumilia Kyando said that the programme would help to address social problems in the community.
Ms Kyando commended the institute over the programme, which focuses on addressing social challenges facing many communities.
“We will start with Mpakani Street and expect to move to another area of the ward by mobilizing our people to engage in the program by presenting their problems to social welfare experts who will come up with solutions,” she said.
She pointed out that community engagement increases the visibility and understanding of issues and empowers communities to have their say over decisions that affect their lives, their towns, cities and neighborhoods.
