At the end of June, Dr Joanna Kostka and I had the privilege of travelling to Kenya to share our research, strengthen international partnerships and explore the vital contribution social work can make to addressing some of the world's most pressing challenges. Although our work spans different areas of practice and research, we share a commitment to improving the lives of children, young people and families through collaboration, evidence and social justice.

Our visit centred around the International Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development (SWSD 2026) in Nairobi, where we presented From Margins to Mandate: Repositioning Social Work as a Transformative Global Actor. Our paper explored how social work can respond to the complex, interconnected crises shaping today's world and argued that the profession must move beyond responding to immediate need towards influencing long-term systemic change.

Drawing on contemporary global challenges, we reflected on the relationship between care, institutional trust and social work's wider responsibility to respond to crisis while helping to build more resilient, equitable communities.

A key part of the presentation focused on findings from Bee the Difference, a project designed by and for young survivors of the Manchester Arena terrorist attack. The research highlights both the profound psychological impact of the attack and the barriers many young people experienced when seeking support. Through the voices of survivors, six key opportunities for improving services emerged: being visible, compassionate, experienced, flexible, patient and proactive.

Together, these principles demonstrate the importance of making support accessible, recognising and validating young people's experiences, providing specialist trauma-informed services, offering genuine choice about the support received, understanding that recovery is rarely linear, and using young people's experiences to shape future policy and practice.

We concluded by reflecting on social work's role as a bridge between crisis and change. Rather than simply implementing policy, managing risk or coordinating services, social work has the potential to champion dignity, strengthen communities and influence the systems that shape people's lives.

The response from delegates was incredibly encouraging. The presentation generated considerable discussion and has already led to the development of a new partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), an organisation working in more than 40 countries to help people affected by humanitarian crises survive, recover and rebuild their lives.

Connecting Social Work, Climate Justice and Community Action

The conference also created an opportunity for something much more personal: meeting someone I had previously only known through a computer screen.

In August 2025, I was honoured to speak at the United Nations International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism. The online event brought together representatives from every continent, each sharing their experiences of surviving terrorism and advocating for fellow survivors.

Among the speakers was an inspirational young man from Kenya called Khalifa, whose father had been murdered in a terrorist attack. His story was one of unimaginable loss, but also remarkable resilience. Inspired by his own experiences, Khalifa founded the Diani Youth Beach Clean initiative, which supports young people affected by trauma through climate justice projects, marine conservation, mentoring and peer support. By combining environmental action with community engagement, the initiative creates opportunities for healing, confidence-building and positive social change while protecting the local environment.

From the moment I heard Khalifa speak, I knew that if I ever visited Kenya I wanted to meet him, learn more about his work and, most importantly, volunteer alongside the young people involved.

Joining the Diani Youth Beach Clean team to help clean a section of Diani Beach proved to be one of the highlights of the trip. Watching young people come together with a shared sense of purpose demonstrated just how powerful community action can be. Their energy, passion and commitment were infectious, and Joanna and I left inspired by what they had achieved.

We hope this is only the beginning of our relationship with the project and are exploring opportunities to develop future links between the initiative and Lancaster University's Social Work programme. Watch this space!

Amplifying the Voices of Young People

Learning that Khalifa and I would be meeting, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism kindly facilitated an additional opportunity to meet young leaders involved in its Young Empowerment Programme (YEEP). The programme equips young African leaders with skills in grassroots engagement, peacebuilding and policy development while creating an international network that amplifies youth voices in efforts to prevent violent extremism.

During the session, I shared findings from the Bee the Difference project, with young people from the UK who had participated in the research joining remotely to contribute their own experiences. The discussion generated thoughtful comparisons between the UK and Kenya, with participants particularly interested in understanding the psychosocial support available following incidents of mass violence.

Joanna also introduced the work of Lancaster University's Centre for Child and Family Justice Research, highlighting the Centre's commitment to high-quality research, meaningful engagement with children and young people, and international collaboration.

The meeting took place at the offices of MIDRIFT Hurinet, a Kenyan non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights. What began as a conversation has already developed into a new partnership. Members of the MIDRIFT Hurinet team have accepted an invitation to contribute to the Centre for Child and Family Justice's webinar series, where they will share their important work tackling child exploitation in Kenya.

Further details about this event will be shared in due course.

Looking Ahead

Our visit to Kenya demonstrated the value of international collaboration in advancing social work research, practice and education. Whether presenting research, learning from community-led initiatives or developing new partnerships, each experience reinforced the importance of listening to communities, valuing lived experience and working across borders to address shared global challenges.

The relationships established during this visit are only the beginning. We look forward to building on these connections through collaborative research, student engagement and knowledge exchange, ensuring that the insights gained in Kenya continue to inform our work at Lancaster University and contribute to creating more just, compassionate and resilient communities worldwide.

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