About SWIN-P
Relevance to Nigeria's Development Issues
The SWIN-P is aligned with the revised Social Development Policy for Nigeria (2004) – a national framework for the implementation and co-ordination of social development programs and legislation in Nigeria. The policy acknowledges that social development is an integral component of national development but admits that the social development sector is facing a number of mitigating issues that impede its effectiveness, including: staff management and development, lack of awareness of the meaning and importance of social development by policy makers and the public, and lack of appropriate, indigenous research for effective planning and decision-making.
The SWIN-P will address such gaps by providing in-service training to social welfare officers in Edo State and beyond. The SWIN-P will also build the capacity of UNIBEN to conduct applied research that will incorporate indigenous knowledge to develop an integrated model for social practice and social policy that is particularly relevant to the experiences and needs of women that live in poverty and are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and trafficking.
SWIN will also complement the efforts of the fledging Nigerian Association of Social Workers (NAOSW) which has been working diligently towards the professionalization of social work in Nigeria. The NASOW recently introduced a bill to the National Assembly, the passage of which will help professionalize social work in Nigeria. The NASOW have enthusiastically endorsed the objectives of the SWIN-P as complementing their objectives.
As well as supporting Nigerian priorities, the SWIN-P addresses three of UN’s MDG Goals – Goal 3: Promoting Gender Equality and Women Empowerment; Goal 6: Combating HIV/AIDS; and Goal 8: Developing a Global Partnership for Development. The SWIN-P is also aligned with Nigeria’s multi-sectoral emergency response to the growth of HIV/AIDS and STIs released in April 2001. A key goal is to protect women from HIV infection by empowering them to determine their own standards of sexual behavior. Women's empowerment and gender equality is the major focus of our collaboration with UNIBEN; the climate is conducive to supporting our project goals. SWIN will strengthen the university’s ability to train social work graduates who have the professional skills to empower women.
The Nigerian government identifies its top priorities as health, environment, poverty reduction, education, human rights, good governance, and general political stability among which health, environment and agriculture are the three key sectors for the CIDA Nigerian Program. The SWIN-P complements CIDA’s Nigeria HIV/AIDS Responsive Fund (NARF) which has identified capacity building of NGOs and community-based organizations as an important component. SWIN also complements CIDA’s support to the UNICEF HIV/AIDS Program – a $10,000,00 four-year initiative that has two components: prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS prevention and care for adolescents.