_____________________________________________________________________ AJSW, Volume 3, Number 1, 2013 Editorial Note African Journal of Social Work, 3(1), August 2013 ii _____________________________________________________________________ EDITORIAL NOTE It gives me great pleasure to announce the publication of the first issue of the third volume of AJSW. The AJSW journey has not been a wonderful one. Readers may recall that the first two volumes were published in 1999 and 2000 respectively under the tutelage of Nigel Hall, who is now a Senior Lecturer, School of Social Work, Faculty of Health & Social Care Sciences, Kingston University, UK. Since then, no other publication was available due to funding and human resource constraints. It took quite some effort, from a number of people, to have this third volume. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Editorial Board and reviewers for their support. I would want to single out Professor Karen Lyons (PhD, CQSW, Emeritus Professor, International Social Work, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, London Metropolitan University, UK) for immense contribution during the process of re-introducing this journal. Thanks also to Noel Muridzo, President of the NASW for direction and guidance. I wish also to thank the solicitor of articles Jacob Mugumbate for working tirelessly to have this journal running again. He did not only propose the idea to NASW, but consulted and addressed all technical requirements. Last but not least, I wish to thank the IDA Publishers for the work well done and for agreeing to freely host the online edition of AJSW until a dedicated website is available. The first paper was provided by Dhemba from the University of Lesotho. He looked at social security issues, challenges and prospects of the elderly in Zimbabwe with a focus on the Older Persons Act (Chapter 17:11) of 2012. He concludes that in order to guarantee income and good health in old age, there is need to transform existing social protection measures in order to increase their coverage and to review the Older Persons Act so that it provides public assistance universally to the elderly. The second paper came from Biri and Mutambwa from the University of Zimbabwe. They explored socio-cultural dynamics and education for development in Zimbabwe and concluded that in order to realise sustainable development, attention should be paid to socio- religious ethics that ‘disempower’ women but are often ignored by _____________________________________________________________________ AJSW, Volume 3, Number 1, 2013 Editorial Note African Journal of Social Work, 3(1), August 2013 iii _____________________________________________________________________ scholars, politicians and other stakeholders. The third paper explores human rights in Zimbabwe and it came from Mtetwa and Muchacha who are based at the University of Zimbabwe. The paper recommends that social workers should take an interest in the political situation of the communities in which they work through advocacy as a way to safeguard the rights of the most vulnerable members of society. The fourth paper takes an interesting dimension: spirituality and social work. It was provided by Mabvurira from Bindura University and Nyanguru from University of Zimbabwe. The paper argues that social work clients in Zimbabwe might be losing out due to an academic amnesia that is around spirituality. Social workers in Zimbabwe are, therefore, encouraged to research on spirituality and social work. Similarly, academics are encouraged to incorporate topics on spirituality in the social work curriculum. The last paper came from Mugumbate and Nyanguru. Mugumbate is based at the Bindura University. Their paper looked at the concept of ubuntu, how it has been applied in different fields and lessons that can be drawn for the social work profession. Mugumbate and Nyanguru conclude that successful utilisation of the ubuntu concept in other disciplines makes it suitable for application in social work especially to enhance practice ethics, community work and conduct in research. The last one is a Brief Communication on the work of Father Ted Rogers in Zimbabwe. He played a commendable role in introducing social work education in Zimbabwe. He also was involved in improving education in Zimbabwe and enhancing the lives of disadvantaged people through formation of various non-profit making organisations. I wish Ted well and hope to read his memoirs soon. The next issue of this journal is expected towards the end of the year. With all the experience gained in this issue, it is hoped the next issue is going to come timorously and will be quite improved. Lastly, may I appeal for support towards the running of our dear journal. Support is mainly needed to fund the print edition and to initiate a dedicated website.