GET /api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1518674/?format=api
HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1518674,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1518674/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 139,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Makueni, WDM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Suzanne Kiamba",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "I have been a social safeguard specialist for over 23 years. We have been working without the protection of such a legal framework. As many of us have said, social work is the glue that holds other professions together. There are other professions that ignore the input of social work and the outcome is sometimes, very limiting. I would like to emphasise on the aspect of technical areas. This is because I have operated in scenarios where engineers and doctors are regarded as very important people. While I acknowledge that they are very important, it does not negate the role of a social worker. Once again, I congratulate Hon. Kimilu, for coming up with this Bill. This is because in most scenarios, there is emphasis on technical professions, where people take work to be very mechanical and think that they can change this world by doing things the way they like. Nevertheless, as one of the Members has said, to bring about transformational development, you have to work with the social workers. This is because even the public participation that we do, even here in Parliament, is of low quality. I have observed several of them and I can confirm this. We do it in a mechanical way because we focus on the technical skills and approach it professionally without any community analysis and change. I believe that if this profession is recognised and standardised, each and every sector will learn a lot from it. For example, if you are a doctor and you do not have social skills or use the skills from the other people, you may end up treating people of non-existent diseases. This is because, sometimes, what people say is not what they suffer from. You need a social work expert to analyse some of those issues so that you can get to the root cause of the problem. There is also the issue of inclusion where, currently, we live in a society that has several cadres and divisions. There is division between men and women, old and young, and sick and healthy. It is the role of the social worker to narrow down those divisions so that communities can move and achieve their objectives. Therefore, this is a valuable Bill. I am happy that it has come to the Floor of the House, through Hon. Kimilu. I am sure that it will change many things. When I worked as a social safeguard specialist, one of the challenges we faced was the issue of inclusion, especially on the issues of disability, gender and elderly people. You will realise that in most projects, even for this country, sometimes, only a small segment of those people benefits and majority of the people are excluded. However, if we recognise this profession, we will ensure that it is integrated into other professions so that we have transformational development as we facilitate change."
}