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{
"id": 1518648,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1518648/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kitui South, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Rachael Nyamai",
"speaker": null,
"content": "it intends to ensure that the profession is more organized by ensuring that people get registered in order for them to provide the best services possible as envisaged in this proposed law that the Member has worked very hard to develop. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I listened to Hon. Joshua Kimilu as he moved this Bill. He told the House the kind of people who were engaged during public participation, and what he would like to achieve from this draft law. I realized that it is a very important Bill. It is important to note that as much as we value construction, Information Technology and Communication (ICT) and medicine, among other professions that are very important for our country’s development, those sectors cannot succeed without the support of soft skilled professionals, amongst whom are social workers. This Bill intends to regulate that profession. There is the possibility of anybody who assists within a community to feel that they are social workers even though they may not have any form of training in social work, or belong to any organization that offer social work services. They just say that they are social workers. This Bill is going to ensure that that profession is taken seriously, it is regulated and that professionals in the sector are registered, and that the quality of the services offered becomes better than it is today. I noticed that Hon. Joshua Kimilu tried to identify various categories of social workers. He talked about those who are in the health sector. Social workers serving within the health sector would be different from social workers serving in the construction sector, for example; because the latter category would be dealing with safety and other matters. I believe this Bill will properly classify social workers based on the specific profession that each category supports. That way, actors in every category will be able to get the requisite training so that they can serve better and professionally. Hon. Deputy Speaker, the Bill also proposes the possibility of social workers participating meaningfully in national development. Once the social workers have been categorized, and once the source of funding for the respective activities has been properly identified, it will be possible to link them with the relevant departments where they will be most useful. I believe this will not only open opportunities for social workers locally, but also internationally, where such professionals will be needed. If people would like, for example, to get an opportunity to work abroad, they will not just say that they are social workers. They will have to state their classification, produce evidence of training and registration. As a country, we will have properly organized and equipped our social work professionals with relevant skills that will enable them to get employment anywhere in the world. This Bill also gives social workers a voice. At this moment, you realize that if social workers are working within, for example, the engineering sector, they may be seen to be inferior to the engineers. Bosses within those institutions would feel that since they deal with engineers, they should only budget for the engineers, and not budget for soft skilled aspects, within which social workers fall. This Bill seeks to ensure that once social workers are registered, they are hired in an organized way. That way, their voice will be heard and their numbers will be bigger. They will not just be two or three in an institution which has thousands of people. This will give them value, a voice and enhance the possibility of proper remuneration. I also realize that the Bill seeks to ensure that social workers' unethical practices are dealt with very well. One of the reasons as to why I support this Bill is that there are so many unethical practices within the social work sector. I would like to give an example of social workers working, for example, in mental institutions, where there are so many allegations of patients being mishandled by social workers. This Bill seeks to ensure that in case of any unethical practices, the perpetrators are dealt with as per the law. Hon. Deputy Speaker, the world is changing fast. What used to be called ‘social work’ 10 years ago, what is social work today and what will be social work in another five years, will be different. This is because of the changing world situation where people experience different The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}