Illustrative Photo (Source: Internet)

Addressing the conference, Deputy Minister Le Tan Dung said in many ASEAN countries, social work is not legally recognised as a profession. Many countries have yet to realise the importance of social work in the lives of their citizens and governance to ensure the provision of services and support to disadvantaged groups. 

Challenges relating to resources, including professional personnel with appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes as well as financial resources in social work are barriers to developing social work within ASEAN in particular and around the world in general.

Reporting on the “Evaluation on social services in East Asia and the Asia Pacific region”, carried out by the UNICEF and the Global Labour Union on Social Work Supply, Vice Head Representative of UNICEF Vietnam, Lesley Miler, said ASEAN was enhancing human resources providing social work and this was a very important issue to help fulfil Sustainable Development Goals.

The conference’s objectives are to kick off the development of the ASEAN Declaration on the Promotion of Social Work – social services workforce that plays a particularly important role in supporting and enhancing the well-being of children, disadvantaged groups and their families and provide social welfare systems; establish regional consensus on scale and duties of the social service workforce; improve regional capacity in planning and development to support social services workshop; and develop a statement on social work development.

Deputy Minister Le Tan Dung said enhancing cooperation among countries in the region towards building social work as a professional and effective sector that is capable of adapting to rapid changes of the society is a common goal of all ASEAN member countries.

As the ASEAN Chair in 2020, Viet Nam looks forward to working with ASEAN member countries and UNICEF and partners to develop the ASEAN Declaration on the Promotion of Social Work which is expected to be submitted to ASEAN leaders for approval in November 2020.

The approval will affirm ASEAN’s political support and high commitment to the development of social work in the region in the future, aiming at the goal "Let no one be left behind" by the United Nations.

At the conference, domestic and international experts said Viet Nam needed to strengthen and finalise the legal framework on development of social work through the building of a separate Law on Social Work to serve as a basis for developing social work professionally, as well as adjusting relevant contents in sectors and fields that are regulated by specialised laws./.