ASEAN executives discuss cross-border trafficking

MANILA, Philippines –  Social welfare officials from member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathered in Manila last week to discuss the prevention of cross-border trafficking of women and children.                           

The three-day conference held at the Manila Hotel was attended by social welfare officials and educators from the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.   Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said the conference also aims to develop a common understanding among professionals on ways to protect the welfare of foreign trafficking victims found in their territories.                   

“Social work requires global interaction and partnership,” Soliman said during the opening ceremony of the First ASEAN Social Work Consortium Conference.                     

 Soliman said the meeting also aims to enhance social work education and training in the region.                                 

 “Social work education needs to be responsive,” Soliman said.                                                                                   

Soliman said the requirements of social work have changed in the last 15 years because of increased migration and urbanization.                                                                                 

The country, however, lacks social workers to effectively address these challenges because most of them have taken up higher-paying jobs in London, New Zealand and Australia. 

Mary Lou Alcid, president of the National Association for Social Work Education Inc., said there are only 30,000 social workers left in the country.                                          Fewer students are taking up social work.               

“Parents discourage their children from taking social work in college because there is no money in it,” Alcid said.        

Soliman and Alcid also said the job has been associated with relief work in times of disasters.  

 She said that on the upside, social workers get to travel abroad through humanitarian activities sponsored by international non-government organizations.