Like all rapidly-growing cities, Bangkok has been mushroomed with skyscrapers, reflecting its modernization. But all the high-rise buildings do not always mean the development of quality of life of everyone residing in this hustle-bustle capital. In fact, residents in some congested communities still find themselves lacking equal opportunity to access social welfare and public services, especially those members of low-income families and the vulnerable groups; such as children and youth living in poverty, lower-educated housewives, unemployed elderly people, and persons with disabilities.
Recently, the Director and staff members of the ASEAN Training Centre for Social Work and Social Welfare (ATCSW) had an opportunity to join the crew from the Foreign Affairs Division to visit the Charan Sanitwong 9/1 Community under the “One Department, One Area for Development Scheme” of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS). The purpose of the visit was for officials of the Division to acquire primary information of the households living in this community. Visiting the site in person is to understand the real situations
Data collected through interviews with the residents of the community, particularly about the problems they have been encountered with will then be processed into the national data-base. Such information and data will enable the MSDHS to analyze who exactly are in need of help, and what kind of supports they should be appropriately given so that they could alleviate their plights. It is expected that the right assistance given to the right persons in needs will eventually help them improve their quality of lives, which however may take some time. .
Joining the visit, the team of ATCSW had a chance to learn about the community and to acquire first-hand information on how social workers perform their duties; what kind of knowledge and skills they are required to possess; and what additional capacities they need to be equipped with in order to improve their work performance. The data gained from this observation trip, and from the ones before it, will be compiled and used as an input for ATCSW in designing suitable curriculum and training courses.
Based on empirical findings from all field visits, Capacity Building Curriculum is being drafted in addition to regular curricula such as Global Knowledge on Social Work, Social Protection, and Protection of Children in the Context of Migration. An in-country training course on Capacity Building which focuses on the “Re-skill, Up-skill, and Multi-skill for Social Work and Social Welfare Practitioners” is planned to be conducted as a pilot project in coming months. Consequently, this trial course will be adjusted, standardized and offered to social workers and social welfare related professionals in the ASEAN region. Further details of this course will be uploaded accordingly onto this website.
