Kyrgyzstan: Training for Social Workers

The purpose of the training was to build competences and strengthen interagency cooperation in addressing the challenges of identifying children and families in difficult situations, including children involved in the worst forms of child labour, and offering them the social services they need.

The training has been delivered as part of the Inter-Ministerial Action Plan to Prevent the Involvement of Children in the Worst Forms of Child Labour in the Kyrgyz Republic in 2016-2018.

A series of four-day training seminars were held between May and June 2016, covering a total of some 200 professionals, including members of child welfare commissions, employees of regional departments for social development, social workers, social educators, juvenile inspectors, and trade union leaders from Issyk-Kul and Chui regions and Bishkek.

Here are some comments from seminar participants:

Nurgul Usenova, Chief Specialist, Department for Social Development, Sverdlovsk District of Bishkek: "The training was really timely and useful. As a result of the four days, specialists from four districts of Bishkek were able to share experiences and identify gaps that hinder effective identification of children involved in the worst forms of child labour. The training has also helped us understand how we can improve our performance and make the most efficient use of available resources to address the problem of child labour in Bishkek."

Deputy Head of Department of Labour and Social Development, city of Karakol: "It is important that child labour issues are now addressed at a systemic level and reflected in the Guidelines on Identification of Children and Families in Difficult Situations, adopted in 2015... This training has provided an insight into some of the specifics of helping children who work, and most importantly, it has demonstrated that by mobilizing the efforts of government agencies, we can find better solutions to the problem of child labour."