The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) recently released seven regional guidance documents to support policymakers, managers and members of the social service workforce and allied sectors in ASEAN member states to design and deliver quality social work services. The documents, which build on the commitments made in the Ha Noi Declaration on Strengthening Social Work towards a Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN Community, not only reaffirm the region’s commitment to advancing social work but highlight the importance of the profession in tackling some of the most pressing social issues in the region.
Each document provides technical guidance to ASEAN Member States on the key roles and functions of social workers, and other social service workers, if they are deployed and supported in different sectors and different situations, whether that be in health facilities or schools or in preventing and addressing violence, and in helping people and communities prepare for and reduce the impact of the climate crisis and natural disasters. They also serve as a reference point for developing legislation, policies and tools to deliver quality social work services.
The documents were developed through an inclusive, consultative process, each led and endorsed by a respective government. UNICEF, with technical support from the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance, helped coordinate and guide the process of compiling and revising the Regional Guidance.
“We hope that the guidance, by documenting good practice models and examples from the region and beyond, will provide the evidence to help the ASEAN Social Work Consortium make a strong case to planners and decision makers to invest adequately in the social service workforce,” says Hugh Salmon, Director of the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance. “Increased and sustained investment should then ensure that the workforce can provide high quality services that have a real and lasting impact in people’s lives.”
The regional guidance stems from a unified commitment made by ASEAN Members States, under the Ha Noi Declaration, adopted in 2020, to invest in the social service workforce and the social service system by professionalizing, planning for and expanding the workforce. The first of its kind in the region, the declaration was developed after a mapping of the social service workforce in the East Asia and Pacific region, conducted by UNICEF and the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance in 2019, highlighted significant workforce challenges.
“[The Declaration and accompanying Road Map] is a major achievement,” says Christina Torsein, Child Protection Specialist for UNICEF’s East Asia and Pacific Regional Office. “It can be both an advocacy tool and an implementation guide for Member States. The regional guidance documents are also incredibly valuable. What I love about them is the level of detail on emerging practices in the region. Some countries excel in different areas, and they can learn from one another.”
The Regional Guidance can be found below:
- Strengthening the Role of Social Workers and the Wider Social Service Workforce in the Health Sector
- Strengthening the Role of Social Workers and the Wider Social Service Workforce in the Justice Sector
- Strengthening the Role of Social Workers and the Wider Social Service Workforce in Social Protection
- Development and Use of Social Service Workforce to Population Ratios in ASEAN
- Empowering Women and Children: Delivering Quality Social Work Services for Those at Risk of or Affected by Violence
- Role of Social Workers and the Wider Social Service Workforce in Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Resilience
- Strengthening the Role of Social Workers and the Wider Social Service Workforce in the Education Sector
UNICEF will also be actively supporting ASEAN with a mid-term review of the Ha Noi Declaration and the accompanying Road Map for the Implementation of the Declaration, which will allow Member States to analyze the impact of implementation and areas for improvement. Stay tuned as more information about these developments is available.