Social workers provide lifeline for vulnerable children
Cambodia’s social service workforce supported to give the country’s most at-risk children a chance to get their childhood back on track
19 October 2023, Battambang – “Even before I started pre-school, I could read and write,” beams five-year-old Oeurn Sokrika from Battambang. She learned the Khmer alphabet from her mother, she brags, and now spends most of her time improving her skills.
“I like to learn, and I like to walk around the neighbourhood,” she says. “After I play with my neighbour, I come back to learn again.”
While today she’s racing ahead of her classmates, she didn’t get the easiest start in life. Baby Sokrika fell seriously ill when she was only two days old, and her parents had to make difficult sacrifices to make sure she got the best care possible.
“I felt so sad and so worried about her health,” says her mother, 34-year-old Chan Neth.
The family made multiple trips from their home in Battambang to the well-known Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap, over 150 kilometres away by road, where she was told her daughter needed a serious operation on her intestine. Even after Sokrika finally underwent the life-saving procedure when she was 10 months old, her family’s ordeal was far from over.
“After the operation, we needed assistance for living,” says Neth. “It was very difficult for me in terms of living costs. At that time, I was not able to send my daughter for regular follow-up treatment after the operation.”
After two years without medical attention, Sokrika’s health deteriorated again. Only after her mother eventually reached out to a community group called the Commune Council for Women and Children (CCWC), who got in touch with the District Office of Social Affairs, Veterans, and Youth Rehabilitation (DoSVY), did her daughter finally get the help she desperately needed.
Costs were covered to send Sokrika back to Siem Reap to receive a second operation and follow-up care. The family also received other emergency support like food supplies, school materials for Sokrika, as well as funds to cover the cost of building a new house.
The support was a coordinated effort from several service providers, including the local NGO Children’s Future International (CFI), says Chor Mai, the social worker at the Provincial Office of Social Affairs, Veterans, and Youth Rehabilitation (PoSVY) who was assigned to manage the case. After visiting the family and conducting an assessment, it was identified as a case of child neglect.
“When I arrived, they had no house. They just had a small bed under a roof built from thatch,” he says. “I interviewed them to identify their needs in terms of living conditions and food support and the needs of the child for getting medical treatment.”
He also registered the case in Primero, a digital case management system launched in Cambodia in 2020. The system has been instrumental in supporting the social service workforce to reach more at-risk children with quality services, including by connecting them with other service providers to support their health, education, and social protection.
Chor Mai is one of only three social workers at PoSVY to cover the whole of Battambang province. This is not an uncommon stat – across Cambodia, the number of social workers remains low, with an average of two staff per district to serve approximately 25,000 people. The functions, roles, and responsibilities of the government’s social service workforce have also not been well-differentiated or clearly defined.
With support from key donors, including USAID, the Government of Japan, and UNICEF Australia, UNICEF has been supporting the Cambodian government, especially the National Institute of Social Affairs (NISA), to develop a training strategy, a standardized and structured training curriculum, and a training package. With UNICEF support, NISA has also provided training to build and strengthen the capacity of the existing and newly assigned social service workforce so that they will be able to provide quality services that can protect children and adolescents who are vulnerable to and exposed to violence, those separated from their family or at risk of separation, and those being deinstitutionalized and reintegrated into their provinces.
Since 2022, at least one DoSVY officer from 204 districts has received training, mentoring, and coaching sessions to strengthen their ability to manage child protection cases. As a result, at least 8,900 children have benefited from quality and timely support, including case management services, provided by the trained social service workforce.
Or Vannara, Chief of DoSVY in Battambang’s Thmorkol district, is the only one from the district office specialised in social work. She’s been receiving ongoing mentoring and coaching from the NGO Social Services Cambodia (SSC), who accompanies her as she meets with clients and provides her with technical support and feedback.
“For example, the recommendations they provided to me are related to interview techniques with child survivors,” she said. “The trainer told me to ask open questions that give the victim opportunity to answer and say more – not only leading, yes or no questions.”
Vannara and Mai say that to be a good case manager takes courage, and in their experience it’s not a job that many are willing to do. They also emphasise that a strong partnership network with other service providers and NGOs is critical to ensuring that all of a child’s needs are supported.
“I am proud of myself to do this social work – it takes motivation and willingness,” says Vannara, who remembers a particularly difficult case of a girl with severe disabilities who had been abandoned in the street by her relatives during the pandemic. “And when I can’t do something, I know other people who can fill in the gap.”
“All children have the right to enjoy a full and healthy childhood sheltered from harm,” says Marianna Garofalo, UNICEF Cambodia Chief of Child Protection. “A qualified social service workforce with a clear mandate and capacity is often the first line of response for vulnerable children and is imperative to a well-functioning child protection system. By identifying, preventing, and managing the risks children may be exposed to at home and elsewhere, and by connecting families to other critical services, they ensure that fewer children are exposed to the devastating violence, abuse, exploitation, and neglect that prevent them from reaching their full potential.”
For Sokrika, these services have literally been lifesaving, helping her get back to doing what she loves best. As part of a package of emergency support, the family will also soon receive resources to build a toilet at their home.
“I feel very relieved, and I feel very happy,” says her mother. “My living condition is better, my daughter’s health is getting better, and we have food to eat on a daily basis.”
“It’s not only my mom that’s happy, I’m also happy!” chips in Sokrika, sunny and carefree.
