INTRODUCTION
From 2013 to August 2017, Research and Training Center for Community Development (RTCCD)/Social Work Professional Development Center (SWPDC) and HealthRight International have jointly implemented the project generously funded by Boeing to strengthen social work profession in the child welfare area in Vietnam. After four years of implementation, SWPDC and HealthRight have conducted a large number of activities which contributed to the enhancement of social work profession in Vietnam.
SWPDC’s major activities included increasing social work capacity through training courses for lecturers; social workers and para social workers; policy advocacy for the amendment of 2004 Law on Child Protection, Care and Education; close collaboration with Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs (MOLISA) to pursue the introduction of formal foster care in Vietnam; participation in networking activities, and establishing collaboration with international human services organizations.
Training has been one of the major activities of the project; SWPDC has organized 40 training courses for social workers, para social worker, and social work lecturers with the total of 2,439 participants as of August 2017. In total, SWPDC has developed 16 training modules including child abuse prevention and intervention, foster care, case management and other issues related to child protection. At SWPDC, foster care training courses have been organized with a combination of theoretical perspectives and practice. Regarding policy advocacy, SWPDC has participated in various workshops, meetings, and media events organized by MOLISA and other local and international NGOs to advocate for the inclusion of foster care in legislation. In terms of international collaboration, SWPDC has becoming a national partner of International Social Services (ISS) to provide casework support related to children welfare in Vietnam
Thanks to Boeing’s funding and HealthRight’s technical support, SWPDC has been able to undertake a leading role in improving social work services for children in Vietnam.
The purpose of this report is to assist HealthRight International in reviewing the project activities after five years of implementation as well as to present the achievements and challenges of the projects. The report also presents ideas for the sustainability and opportunities of SWPDC, in the future.
See the Full report in this link [1]