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Submission information
Submission Number: 199
Submission ID: 1297
Submission UUID: 4529cc7b-7de1-4bfd-a495-6186d3b5536f
Submission URI: /2025/abstracts
Created: Thu, 06/26/2025 - 18:47
Completed: Thu, 06/26/2025 - 19:06
Changed: Fri, 08/01/2025 - 17:44
Remote IP address: 41.193.169.68
Submitted by: Anonymous
Language: English
Is draft: No
Current page: Complete
Webform: Abstract
Presenters
Ms.
Mbuyisa
Makgotso
Free state department of social development
My name is Makgotso Mbuyisa, a passionate social worker with extensive experience in advocacy and social justice in the Free State Province. With a foundation in both frontline service, policy development, and management experience, I am committed to reshaping social work as a discipline rooted in systematic change and lived justice. To demonstrate this, I have just completed my postgraduate diploma in public management, which includes a module on public sector reforms and transformation. Currently employed in the Department of Social Development as a Chief Director focusing on the intersections of policy advocacy, psychosocial healing, and environmental justice within the Social Welfare Services space
No
Abstract
Policy and Advocacy for Peace building , Environmental and Social Justice
THEME 3: Policy and Advocacy for Peace building, Environmental and Social Justice
SUB 3.4 Influencing public policy to address environmental inequalities.
Oral Presentation
This paper responds to the ASASWEI 2025 theme by examining how South African social workers contribute to social and environmental justice, peacebuilding, and sustainable development through innovative, evidence-based practice. Based on participatory action research in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng after the 2021 civil unrest, the study explores how social workers facilitated trauma-informed dialogues, youth mentorship, and community-building in marginalised areas.
Combining fieldwork with reflective practitioner narratives, the research identifies local strategies that connect healing with policy influence. Key outcomes include the formation of informal peace structures, improved community trust, and increased civic participation. The findings show that when social workers are equipped with policy knowledge, cultural competence, and the ability to work across sectors, they can drive sustainable, community-led development.
The paper positions social work as more than a service profession—it highlights its potential as a force for structural transformation. By focusing on practice-based innovations like post-unrest psychosocial recovery, mentorship, and inclusive dialogue, it shows how such interventions can inform national policy frameworks. These efforts support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and respond directly to the conference’s call for transformative teaching, research, and advocacy.
Ultimately, the study argues that social workers can bridge grassroots knowledge with policy processes in settings shaped by inequality, spatial injustice, and historical trauma. Their role in institutionalising local peace committees, promoting inclusive governance, and contributing to violence prevention underscores their importance in reimagining a just and sustainable future.
Combining fieldwork with reflective practitioner narratives, the research identifies local strategies that connect healing with policy influence. Key outcomes include the formation of informal peace structures, improved community trust, and increased civic participation. The findings show that when social workers are equipped with policy knowledge, cultural competence, and the ability to work across sectors, they can drive sustainable, community-led development.
The paper positions social work as more than a service profession—it highlights its potential as a force for structural transformation. By focusing on practice-based innovations like post-unrest psychosocial recovery, mentorship, and inclusive dialogue, it shows how such interventions can inform national policy frameworks. These efforts support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and respond directly to the conference’s call for transformative teaching, research, and advocacy.
Ultimately, the study argues that social workers can bridge grassroots knowledge with policy processes in settings shaped by inequality, spatial injustice, and historical trauma. Their role in institutionalising local peace committees, promoting inclusive governance, and contributing to violence prevention underscores their importance in reimagining a just and sustainable future.
Reviewer ONE Feedback
Dr
Nyasha Hillary
Chibaya
Yes
Empirical Research
Accepted
Reviewer TWO Feedback
Professor
Mbongeni
Sithole
Yes
Empirical Research
Accepted