The Somali Transnational Collaborative Project (STCP) Capacity Building (CB) Through Social Work Education

Abstract

Social work as a profession has the tools necessary to support and bring together not just communities but nations due to its ability to recognize and meet the needs of the people.  The profession is relatively new to African countries, including Somaliland, with many of its current-day theories being borrowed from the West. We began our collaborative project in mid-2000, believing that social work in Somaliland can foster growth and nationwide capacity building. The project included the development of a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) program that began in 2008 and a Master of Social Work (MSW) currently in the works. In addition to developing these programs, we have been conducting qualitative research and short surveys since 2020, focusing on the role of social work in Somaliland, the employment prospects for graduates and the benefits of indigenizing the education and expanding it to the MSW level.  Our findings show the contribution of social work education and practice in addressing the specific issues related to poverty, religion, gender-related issues, disability rights, and caring for children or older adults and the need for a graduate level to address issues such as mental health and policy development. We also found that social work education and practice, despite the region's economic challenges and as a new and previously unknown discipline based on Western knowledge, contributed to the overall well-being and capacity building of the people in the area.