The dilemma of vulnerable groups during lockdown: implications for social work education and practice in Ghana

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has created socio-economic challenges for countries globally and has touched lives in some of the remotest areas of the world. While other countries have been proactive in addressing this challenge, I fear that Ghana, and to an extent most of sub-Saharan Africa, have failed to adequately prepare and anticipate these challenges. This reflective essay discusses the paradoxes that the pandemic and the measures used to curb it creates for two vulnerable groups (informal economy workers and women and children in abusive relationships). I introduce the essay with a reflective account of the relevance and practicality of social work education and practice in Ghana in light of the on-going pandemic. Subsequently, I focus on two vulnerable groups (informal economy workers and women and children in abusive relationships). I present a reflective account of how the challenges that emerged from this pandemic creates new opportunities for my work as a social work educator and also for practice with these groups in Ghana.