Do you have a special issue idea? Email the idea to ajsw@africasocialwork.net. Guidelines I Download or View PDF
- Harambee: Society, Social Work and Social Development (call open)
- Special issue June 2026 with North-West University, South Africa (In Press)
- Special issue February 2026 with University of Pretoria, South Africa (Published)
- Postponed: Special Issue on Social Development Approach
- Previous call: Environmental Social Work
Harambee: Society, Social Work and Social Development (call open)
Guest Editor: Dr Sharlotte Tusasiirwe, University of Western Sydney; Member, Ubuntu Research Group
Abstracts accepted until 14 July 2026
Full papers accepted until 14 August 2026
Publication from September to December 2026 (papers will be published as they are accepted)
This conference is generating ideas that African social work needs in print. If you have presented or attended a session at the Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development (SWSD 2026) in Nairobi that has sharpened your thinking, submit your abstract now. The African Journal of Social Work invites submissions for a special issue on Harambee: Society, Social Work and Social Development, guest edited by Dr Sharlotte Tusasiirwe and publishing between September and December 2026.
The African Journal of Social Work (AJSW) is an open access, peer-reviewed journal indexed in SCOPUS, AJOL, DOAJ, and DHET South Africa. It publishes six issues per year and is hosted by Mtandao, Africa Social Work and Development Network. Articles are made open access by authors who pay a small fee to sustain the journal.
Special issue topics
Authors are invited to submit papers that connect to one or more of the following themes:
- Editorial by Dr Sharlotte Tusasiirwe, Guest Editor
- Harambee as a social work and development framework: history, philosophy, and application
- Ubuntu, Ujamaa, Ukama, and Hunhu in practice and education
- Harambee and Ubuntu in global contexts
- Community-led responses to poverty, displacement, and social exclusion
- Decolonising social work: curricula, knowledge systems, and African-centred approaches
- Intergenerational solidarity and elder-centred approaches
- African social development: climate, conflict, and health
- Clinical social work, health, and wellbeing in African contexts
- Digital social work and technology-enabled practice in Africa
- Social work and sustainable development: African perspectives
- Social movements, political social work, and building democratic societies
- Social work and social welfare across the lifespan
- Social work education, pedagogy, and research
- Reclaiming and reimagining social work practice
- Social work practice in the face of complex global challenges
- Indigenous worldviews and their contribution to social work and education
- Brain health, dementia care, and the role of social workers
- Child protection systems, workforce reform, and social service delivery
- Practice notes: community-grounded and Ubuntu-led interventions
- Reflections from SWSD 2026: emerging ideas and calls to action
Who should submit?
Presenters at SWSD 2026 whose paper connects to the Harambee theme. Researchers working on African solidarity, collective action, or shared development models. Practitioners with field-based evidence on community-led or Ubuntu-grounded approaches. Scholars from any country whose work engages African philosophy or decolonised social work.
How to submit
Step 1: Prepare your abstract. Maximum 200 words, Times New Roman 10pt, single spaced. Include title, author details, abstract, and keywords on one page.
Step 2: Email your abstract to ajsw@africasocialwork.net with the subject line: Harambee Special Issue. If attending the SWSD conference, submit your abstract at our Booth 16, Tsavo Ballroom Exhibition Area, KICC Nairobi.
Step 3: If accepted, submit a full manuscript of maximum 5,000 words including references.
African language submissions are welcome. Authors may include a translation of their abstract in an African language of their choice alongside the English version.
Publication fees
To support open access publishing in Africa, authors of peer-reviewed and accepted manuscripts pay a fee ranging from ZAR 4,000 / USD 240 to ZAR 5,000 / USD 300 per manuscript. Fee waivers are available. Articles are made open access by authors who pay a small fee to sustain the journal. Contact ajsw@africasocialwork.net to enquire about waivers.
About the guest editor
Dr Sharlotte Tusasiirwe is based at the University of Western Sydney and is a member of the Ubuntu Research Group. She brings expertise in community-based approaches, Ubuntu philosophy, and decolonised social work practice and education across Africa.
About the African Journal of Social Work
The African Journal of Social Work (AJSW) is published six times per year and indexed in SCOPUS, AJOL, DOAJ, and DHET South Africa. Articles are made open access by authors who pay a small fee to sustain the journal. Full author guidelines are available at ajsw.africasocialwork.net
Contact: ajsw@africasocialwork.net
Propose a special issue
Do you have an idea that African social work and development scholarship needs to explore? A special issue is a guest-edited volume of AJSW focused on a specific theme, population, or question. You lead the scholarly conversation. Past issues have covered environmental social work, school social work, and women in conflict.
Strong proposals include a clearly defined theme, relevance to African philosophy or decolonised practice, 10 to 16 articles targeted, and named guest editor(s).
Email your idea, including a proposed title, 200-word overview, and your name and affiliation, to: ajsw@africasocialwork.net
Full guidelines: ajsw.africasocialwork.net/special-issues/
Special issue June 2026 with North-West University, South Africa (In Press)
Issue title: School Social Work
Guest editor: Dr Marelize Vergottini; Assistant guest editor: Associate Professor Vincent Mabvurira
Special issue February 2026 with University of Pretoria, South Africa (Published)
Issue title: Women and Girls in Conflict: Intersections of Victimization, Criminalization, and Justice
Editors: Dr Nokukhanya Mbonambi, Simone Robinson and Mr Luvuyo Teko
Application:
Postponed: Special Issue on Social Development Approach
Due to guest editor’s workloads, the special issue on The Social Development Approach: Challenges and Prospects has been postponed to a later date. Any inconvenience caused is regrettable.
Previous call: Environmental Social Work
Special issue on Environmental Social Work: African philosophies, frameworks, perspectives and techniques
Guest Editors: Dr. Mildred Mushunje and Dr. Abel Blessing Matsika
Articles in the special issue:
Environmental Social Work: African philosophies, frameworks and perspectives and techniques. | Mildred Mushunje and Blessing MATSIKA
An ecosocial work model for African social work education | Michael Emru TADESSE and James Kutu OBENG
Directions in constructing a body of knowledge in eco-social work education and practice in Uganda: actions, channels, and implications | Venesio Bwambale BHANGYI
Climate change and vulnerabilities of children in rural Zimbabwe: The case of Ward 14 of Bikita District, Zimbabwe | Witness CHIKOKO and Mr Philemon CHIHIYA
Nexus between climate change and environmental social work in Africa | Ezra PEDZISAI, Sunungurayi CHARAMBA, and Rudo MUKURAZHIZHA
An critical analysis of the challenges faced by deaf farmers in their participation in sustainable food production for nutrition and health in Mashonaland region, Zimbabwe | Ashely Ropafadzo TOME
The place of indigenous knowledge in environmental social work in Zimbabwe | Rudo MUKURAZHIZHA, Noel MURIDZO, Sunungurayi CHARAMBA and Samuel SIMBINE
Reflections on integrating environmental social work methods of intervention in Zimbabwean social work curriculum | Tatenda NHAPI
The gap that the special issue addressed
The special issue contains approximately 10-16 articles that focus on the ecological environment and social work. The focus of this special issue, is informed by our concern for the African environment as a source of social functioning, social security and social protection and related issues of climate change and gender. Issues related to social work education, practice, fieldwork and research are also welcome. Accepted manuscripts prioritised African literature, written from an African perspective using African philosophy, theories, ethics, models or frameworks, both long-existing and emerging.
Suggested topic areas
- Social work and the environment – clarifying environmental social work what it is, how it is being practiced and what underpins the philosophy
- Income and livelihoods from an-agri-focused perspective
- Sustainable food production for nutrition and health
- Environmental care and protection
- The nexus between climate change and social work practice
- Gender and the environment
- Social protection responses to climate induced emergencies
- Social work and the vulnerable (children, people with disabilities, the poor) in the context of climate change. Relevance of local, regional and global frameworks in addressing issues of the environment
- Access to the environment – rights, justice, gender etc
- Indigenous issues/Decolonising the environment
Instructions
A two-step screening process was followed, that is, screening of abstracts followed by screening of full manuscripts. We recommend that you do the following:
- Read the call for papers and understand it
- Decide a topic and create a suitable title
- Find co-authors (you can do it alone. Collaboration of multiple authors from different African countries and across the globe will be an added advantage. Make sure all authors agree to the submitted abstracts and manuscripts.
- Draft your abstract and agree with co-authors, if applicable
- Format your abstract as follows: maximum of 200 words, write in Times New Roman, font size 10 and single line spaced.
- Put key words
- Put names of authors and their contact details, each in a single line
- Put all the details on one page in this order: Title, Author Details, Abstract and Key words
- Make sure your abstract adheres to AJSW author guidelines that are available here: https://africasocialwork.net/aswnet-guide-to-writing-journals/
- AJSW recommends use of African language for some of the key concepts used in your title, abstract, key words and manuscript. You can also submit your final English language abstract together with a translation in an African language of your choice.
- Email your abstract to asw@africasocialwork.net before the due date stated below.
- Wait for feedback, and if accepted, submit a full manuscript (maximum 5000 words including references and cover page) using the email above. The full manuscript will contain a revised abstract page as above, introduction, suitable sections making the body, conclusion and list of references that adheres to the AJSW citing and reference guide.
Important dates
| Opening of abstracts | 01 June 2022 – closed |
| Deadline for abstracts | Closed |
| Responses to contributors | From 01 October 2022 – finished |
| Submission of full papers | By 28 January 2023 – finished |
| Editorial and peer review process from | February – March 2023 – finished |
| Publication of journal articles from | April 2023 – finished |