“It Takes a Village to Raise a Child”

Asset-Based Community Development as a Pathway to Integrated Social Protection for Sustainable Child Protection in Zimbabwe

Bibliographic Data

ID19483646
AuthorsTawanda Masuka (0000-0003-1868-0748, Women's University in Africa), Silindiwe Sibanda (0000-0002-4812-9685, The University of Western Australia, corresponding author), Olebogeng Tladi (0000-0003-1783-3247, North-West University, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume15
Issue4
Pages267
Publication date2026-04-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2076-0760 • E-ISSN: 2076-0760
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/socsci15040267
OpenAlexW7154982341
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited26

Children are some of the most vulnerable members of society who must be protected at all costs. Zimbabwe has a long history of disjointed formal and indigenous social protection systems, which have resulted in the exclusion of many children, leading to high levels of child abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence. In policy and practice, there is a strong bias towards the ineffective statist formal system, yet the indigenous social protection system is the mainstay for the protection of most children. The study aimed to explore how asset-based community development can be used as a strategy to integrate the fragmented formal and indigenous social protection systems for sustainable child protection. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods research design was employed, collecting both quantitative and qualitative data from 76 participants. The study findings indicate that asset-based community development by positioning the indigenous social protection system at the centre of the social protection framework provides a blueprint for a community-led and integrated social protection system, which can translate into effective child protection. This system, which utilises a wider network of community and external resources, can counteract the limits of fragmented social protection and sustainably promote child protection among impoverished households in Zimbabwe and similar contexts. The recommendation is that asset-based community development should be promoted as a strategy towards integrated social protection and sustainable child protection

Blueprint · Child protection · Community development · Indigenous · Social protection · Social sustainability · Sustainability · Sustainable development · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Legal Issues in South Africa · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare

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