Zamfara Graduates 710 Auxiliary Social Workers, Unveils Child Protection Guidelines

Zamfara State has graduated and certified 710 Auxiliary Social Workers (ASWs) to strengthen community-based child protection and social welfare services across the state.

The state government also unveiled the Family Court Rules and Alternative Care Guidelines for Children to improve justice delivery and protection for vulnerable children.

The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Dr Aisha M. Z. Anka, disclosed this on Wednesday during the graduation ceremony held at the Dr Garba Nadama Hall in Gusau.

Anka described the initiatives as critical steps towards building community resilience and strengthening protection mechanisms for women, children and other vulnerable groups.

She commended Governor Dauda Lawal for rebuilding the state’s social service system, noting that his administration’s settlement of outstanding counterpart funding obligations had restored collaboration with development partners, including UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

According to her, the renewed partnerships have expanded interventions for women and vulnerable children, while government support for improving the ministry’s working environment and training social workers demonstrated its commitment to institutional capacity and service delivery.

She also acknowledged the support of the Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, UNICEF and the Federal University Gusau in the success of the programme.

Anka charged the newly certified social workers to discharge their duties with honesty, empathy, confidentiality and professionalism, stressing that they would play critical roles in identifying protection concerns, supporting vulnerable persons and facilitating referrals at the grassroots.

In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Alhaji Nasiru Galadima Kaura, reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to the Rescue Mission of the present administration.

“This administration is supporting initiatives designed by the ministry with full financial support, provided they meet the needs of our communities,” he said.

Also speaking, the State ASW Coordinator and Director of Child Protection and Development, Farida Abdulrazak Adamu, said auxiliary social workers played a vital role in identifying child abuse and establishing referral pathways.

She said the workers had received professional training to identify cases of child abuse, neglect and exploitation, adding that they would also adopt preventive measures through community sensitisation campaigns.

“We were professionally trained in identifying cases of child abuse, neglect and exploitation, but we are adopting preventive methods to ensure that these do not happen through community sensitisation campaigns across our communities and public places,” she said.