Social workers roles in disaster services for older adults: Insights on El Nino-induced droughts in Eswatini and Zimbabwe

Although the participation of social workers in response to disasters in Eswatini and Zimbabwe is not fully institutionalized, as it is still evolving, they have critical roles to play in disaster management. Eswatini and Zimbabwe, alongside other countries in Southern Africa, are vulnerable to the now ever pervasive natural and human-induced disasters. This should be of grave concern because of their devastating effects on people and their livelihoods. Also, disconcerting is that disasters, many of which are exacerbated by climate change, are increasing in frequency and severity. In fact, the risks and impacts of disasters are disproportionately carried by those who are already socioeconomically and physically disadvantaged, older adults included. This article examines the impact of El Nino-induced disasters and the actual and potential social work roles in disaster services for older adults in Eswatini and Zimbabwe. The article is based on secondary sources of data and the authors’ experiential knowledge of disasters and responses thereof in Eswatini and Zimbabwe. Analysis in the article reveals an implication of how social workers’ involvement in multidisciplinary collaboration in disaster services provision is a platform for robustly advocating for embedding the implementation of older adults’ friendly disaster services.