Gayratbek Khasanboev: I did not look for this profession. It found me
Сhild's upbringing in a safe environment is the fundamental basis for his future personal and professional development
Today, as Uzbekistan joins the global community in celebrating World Social Work Day, meet Gayratbek Khasanboev from Andijan region. He is Head of Child Protection Department in Markhamat District.
Gayratbek has been working as a social worker for five years. His choice of profession, purely accidental for someone who graduated from the Andijan Agricultural Institute.
“My plans were completely different”, smiles Gayratbek. “I the new job with enthusiasm, but there were times when I hesitated and struggled to make plans. Now looking back and recalling 5 years of work and its results, I think that I did not look for this profession. It found me.”
Gayratbek and his colleagues receive often complex appeals from families and children. Very often, requests are about the issues of formalizing alternative care, protecting the property and legal interests of children deprived of parental care, and protecting children from violence.
“I see fate of the child behind each appeal. Therefore, my approach is not just to give advice, but to manage the situation based on the principle of case management”, says Gayratbek.
To build capacity of professionals like him, UNICEF supports the social workers through improvement of academic curricula and development in-service and re-training programs. UNICEF has provided international guidance through building partnerships with best Schools of Social Work and competency-based training. Jointly with NASP, Uzbekistan-Columbia Center for Advancing Community Strength and Social Well-being and National University of Uzbekistan, UNICEF works on the social service workforce focused on developing professional standards of practice in this field and intense 4-months re-training for new cohort of social workers.
“A trained social service workforce that is in contact with families and communities is vital to child protection. Dedicated and qualified human resources in child protection are essential to coordinating efforts and resources and providing a system of support for children and families across all sectors, including justice and social protection, health and education, security and disaster risk reduction,” says Regina Castillo, UNICEF Representative in Uzbekistan. “All of this, in turn, will lead to improved quality of life and social justice for all segments of the population”.
Gayratbek says that participation in the training organized by UNICEF and partners have fundamentally changed his understanding of social work. Previously, Gayratbek and his teammates worked mainly according to the model of charity but after this training they completely switched to the model of expanding rights and opportunities.
Gayratbek shares the most important takeaways from the training: “I have come to a deeper understanding that international principle – the best interest of the child - should prevail over all legal and administrative documents in any decision-making”.
He gained at the training sessions allowed him to integrate international standards with local practice, which directly raised the quality of service to a new level. Also, Gayratbek believes in the power of prevention, so he began to apply in his work early identification of social risks and taking preventive measures, rather than intervening after a crisis has occurred.
“I believe that a child's upbringing in a safe environment is the fundamental basis for his future personal and professional development, and I have devoted my career to strengthening this foundation and I am working on it”, concludes Gayratbek.
