UN experts call for Malaysia to strengthen the social work profession

RECENTLY, Malaysia’s progress on meeting fundamental child rights was reviewed in Geneva by a United Nations panel of experts. High on their list of key recommendations was to strengthen, without delay, professional social work in all sectors, especially in the public sector.

To those working with children, especially child protection, this is no surprise. It has long been recognised that as a country we have a long way to go to provide the skilled, child- and family-sensitive interventions required to protect and nurture vulnerable children. This is urgently needed not just at moments of crisis, but often long after, in addition to having programmes to prevent such crises occurring.