Published on 2025-04-07 by nich0121
Each year, CEHD International Initiatives awards the Global Signature Grant. The grant supports faculty and staff projects that advance the college’s global mission and engagement. These projects are exemplars of internationalization efforts and global commitments in the college. They demonstrate CEHD’s collective strength through globally focused, mission-driven activities.
In 2024, the School of Social Work (SSW) and the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW) were awarded one of four Global Signature Grants, which was used to help to fund an incredible partnership in Namibia, with effort being led by Dr. Traci LaLiberte (Senior Executive Director, Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare) and Dr. Amy Hewitt (Institute on Community Integration Director).
This important work has been a few years in the making, and it has been so exciting for the SSW and CASCW teams to see it come to fruition. It started when a University of Minnesota alumni, Dr. Ndilimeke Nashandi, reached out to Dr. LaLiberte. After finishing her degree at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work, Dr. Nashandi returned to her home in Namibia and began working as a professor of social work at the University of Namibia (UNAM). She realized that the child welfare workforce (called ‘childcare’ in Namibia) needed additional professional development, some stability, a more concentrated focus on helping children with disabilities, and continued learning from research to effectively serve children and their families.
These are many of the same things that CASCW is also working on. Dr. Ndilimeke reached out to ask if CASCW could help her think about the best way to approach setting up a research and training center, similar to CASCW, but of course culturally grounded in the needs of the Namibian community.
Dr. Ndilimeke felt that bringing stakeholders together would be an important step in the creation of a center. A 3-day, in person conference for representatives of Namibia's 14 districts and members from the SSW and CASCW teams convened in the summer of 2024. Both NGOs and government staff attended, as well as some of Dr. Ndilimeke's UNAM colleagues.
In addition to learning about center creation and partnership, there was a keen interest in integrated data, and being able to use their administrative data to learn about the effectiveness of their services, as well as needs and gaps. Dr. Ndilimeke knew that Dr. Kristy Piescher, Assistant Executive Director at CASCW, is a national expert in this area, and runs the integrated data project called Minn-LInK. So, Dr. Piescher joined the CASCW team on the trip to provide technical assistance and expertise.
An additional priority of the conference included a focus on disability. Many of the children in the child welfare/childcare system in Namibia live with varying types of disability. And, there are tremendous unmet needs and stigma around disability. In addition, there are professional development gaps pertaining to work with and providing services to children with disabilities and their families.
Dr. Amy Hewitt, Director of the Institute on Community Integration, has spent over 15 years in a partnership with Zambia, a neighboring country to Namibia. Dr. Hewitt and her colleague, Mikala Mukongolwa, also joined the conference to provide examples of the work that they have found to be successful in Africa. The Director of the SSW, Dr. Joan Blakey, also attended the conference to engage with UNAM around any international education exchanges that they might find useful.
Overall, it was an incredible 3-day conference that brought together key decision makers and stakeholders who are invested in creating a center to serve the children and families of Namibia. There is now an ongoing partnership with UNAM, with funding for five years for those interested in earning their social work degree, anywhere in the country in Namibia.
In January of 2025, Dr. Traci LaLiberte presented this incredible work, Child Wellbeing Research Initiative & Training (CRIT) in Namibia, at the Annual Global Signature Grant Showcase, where Dr. Ndilimeke Nashandi also attended, and they were joined by a group of dedicated panelists, including:
Ronald Asiimwe
Department of Family Social Science
Voices from the Field: A Positive Deviance Approach to Understanding Stakeholders Perspectives on Addressing Intimate Partner Violence in Uganda
Kristin Liu and Jessica Bowman
Institute on Community Integration
Addressing Critical Challenges and Opportunities Related to the Inclusion of Students with Special Education Needs (SEN) within the Malaysian Education Context
Mitchell McSweeney
School of Kinesiology
Decolonizing Sport-for-Development and Peace Pedagogy in Brazil
Are you interested in learning more about this ongoing work in Namibia? Please reach out to Traci LaLiberte ([email protected]) with any questions or to learn more.