Our Mission
To create a society that enables abilities using the family perspective, supporting and consolidating policies affecting social partnership and creating strength in family values.
The Rivers State Ministry of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation is committed to protecting vulnerable persons and strengthening families across the State.
The Rivers State Ministry of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation was established on the 23rd of July 2007 in response to years of neglect of social welfare services in the State. The Ministry was previously subsumed into several other Ministries at different times: from the Ministry of Rural Development and Social Welfare to Ministry of Information and Culture to Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development to Ministry of Youth and Sports and lastly it was an Agency under the Governor's Office before the current establishment of the Ministry of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation.
To create a society that enables abilities using the family perspective, supporting and consolidating policies affecting social partnership and creating strength in family values.
To achieve a society where everyone is capable of functioning and achieving practical opportunities in the face of any disadvantage.
To provide social welfare services to all persons in Rivers State, especially the vulnerable people.
The Ministry's work is backed by these key legal frameworks:
The Ministry of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation provides social welfare services in three professional departments through their specialized units.
This unit is positioned to consider the best interest of the child in matters concerning matrimonial disputes, custody, maintenance, abuse and other related matters based on existent laws such as the Child Rights Law and in compliance with the ethics of social welfare such as confidentiality and unbias.
This unit, currently stationed at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, provides social welfare services to indigent and vulnerable patients in the State.
This unit emerged as a result of technological advance in communication and is the response unit to cases reported via the Ministry's social media platforms, including both local and international cases.
This unit is responsible for the registration of Social Clubs, NGOs, Foundations, Alternative Care Homes (e.g., Orphanages and Homes for the Elderly) and Associations. It also inspects and monitors the activities of registered care homes, ensuring that the rights of persons are safeguarded.
This Unit was established to curb the rate of juvenile delinquency and child abuse in primary and secondary schools in the State. The school social work is the link between the school, home and community.
This unit is charged with the responsibility of handling activities and social welfare issues involving older persons.
The legal unit is charged with every professional legal responsibility of the Ministry. The responsibility of the Ministry is stipulated in several legal instruments and it is the duty of the legal unit to ensure the Ministry's compliance and fulfilment of these provisions.
This is the alternative care home for the rehabilitation of children beyond parental control. All children in this facility are treated with respect to their inherent human dignity via the rights-based approach. Institutional care is a last resort for the Ministry and all actions are taken to ensure that such care is only for the shortest possible time.
This is a one-step specialized center that provides comprehensive support services for survivors of sexual assault.
The Safe Home was built to provide social safety nets for vulnerable persons in view of the proliferation of sexual assault and other forms of violence in the State. It is a prime haven of safety, justice and rehabilitation for survivors of abuse, set to provide maximum protection, support and effective remedies for survivors of violence.
The Rehabilitation Centre is responsible for the provision of rehabilitation services to persons with disabilities, the mentally ill, beggars and destitute. Its function includes: Social Rehabilitation, Vocational Rehabilitation, Psychiatric Rehabilitation, and Repatriation of Vagrant Lunatics, Destitute and Beggars.
This unit is geared towards adopting follow-up mechanisms to ensure that persons previously admitted in the Ministry's facilities (e.g., the Remand Home, Children's Home and Rehabilitation Centre) have received proper rehabilitation and are effectively reintegrated into society. The Unit carries out pre-discharge and post-discharge services on persons admitted to these facilities.
This unit emerged as a result of the increasing rate of vulnerability and death of parents and caregivers in Rivers State. It functions to improve the wellbeing of Orphans and Vulnerable children through the provision of social welfare services, including support services for children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable conditions.
In recognition of the pertinent role a stable, nurturing family environment plays in the full and harmonious development of children as well as its impact on society, this unit is charged with responsibility regarding the fostering and adoption of children as meted to it by the Child Rights Law of Rivers State.
The Rivers State Child's Rights Law 2009 is an adoption of the Child's Right Act of 2003, a domestication of the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The UNICEF Unit ensures that the law and practice concerning children in the State align with the International Legal Framework, and supports the functioning of the Children's Parliament.
This Unit is primarily concerned with the registration and monitoring of Day-Care Centre operations in Rivers State. The Ministry is the regulatory body for the Day-Care Centers (Control of Operation) Law, with officers from this Unit serving on the Day-Care Centers Registration Advisory Board. The best interest of the child via the rights-based approach is the primary consideration.
The Port Harcourt Children's Home is a home for children in need of care and protection. Established in 1974 after the Nigerian Civil War during the regime of Commander A.P. Diete Spiff, it shelters children separated from or orphaned by their parents, as well as children of vagrants and lunatic mothers and children whose parents are serving jail terms.