Social Welfare Attaché: The New Field of Social Work Practice
Nicamil K. Sanchez, RSW, MPM, Dip. Ger.(Malta)PhD candidate
[email protected]/[email protected] id no: 2433644
Session name: WS 131 Migration and the social worker I (3:3)Session date: 2012/07/11
Session start time: 2:00:00 PMSession end time: 3:30:00 PM
Ruby Pernell's impact on group work education was significant over the years. However, her great contribution as a pioneer in the field of social work was her leadership in the field of international social
work. She was Social Welfare Attaché to India for the State Department under Ambassador Chester Bowles, one of only two
Social Welfare Attaches in the history of our country.
Source: http://www.naswfoundation.org/pioneers/p/pernell.html
Mary Catherine Jennings Holden She worked in the international Division of the Girl Scouts of
America. She was one of two social workers who served in the United States Department of State as a social welfare attache. Mary Catherine served in Brazil. She was on the staff of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare in their international program
Source: http://www.naswfoundation.org/pioneers/p/pernell.html
Director Finardo G. Cabilao, is a true warrior who gallantly fought for the rights of clients and consistently upheld the principles of
protecting the worth and dignity of every human being. He paid a steep price for his principles, and not even death would prevent him from doing what he thought was right. All of these in his desire to fulfil his duty for the oppressed Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs),
the victims of organized trafficking syndicate in Malaysia .
Outline
Background• Magna Carta for Migrant Workers (Policy & Program)• Philippines Statistics on Labor Migration
What is the historical evolution of Social Welfare Attaché?
What is Social Welfare Attaché?
Social Worker as an Attaché: New Field of Practice• current practices • future practices
What are the Challenges and Opportunities?
Conclusions
Background
Social Work should be responsive to the call of time and to the changing needs of the people
Promote and uphold the dignity of its clients whether in country or overseas
Culture of migration, changing demography, imbalances of country’s development, and the opportunities of seeking short term and long term employment
Attaché has special responsibilities or expertise
Woman's migration from home in search of work opportunities (Lauby & Stark, 1988)
Overseas Filipino worker and migrant worker is used interchangeably and classified as land-based or sea based migrant worker
Background
Migrants in crisis situations, and in need of special protection: such as victims of trafficking, deportees, and repatriates who were either abused or exploited.
Female victims of labor trafficking were often employed as household helpers (DSWD, 2011)
Providing a lawyer and a social worker in implementing the services in the center for documented and undocumented workers, and most importantly to distressed migrants.
OWWA Welfare Officer shall formulate and implement welfare programs for overseas Filipino workers and their families
Transit experiences were different, as were the social, political, and economic circumstances surrounding their premigration and departure. (Drachman, 1992)
New field of practice for social worker the needs to be explore
This article describes the historical evolution of Social Welfare Attaché, and most importantly, the new field of social work practice in foreign post.
Migrant Workers Act of 1999 (Republic Act 8042)
Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 (Republic Act 9208)
Executive Order 287 or “Directing the Deployment/Posting of Social Welfare Attachés in Selected Diplomatic Posts”
Executive Order No. 221 which mandates the DSWD to provide care, protection, and rehabilitation through the deployment of Social Welfare Attaches to Philippine Foreign Posts with large concentration of OFWs
Memorandum of Agreement was in 2003 that formalized the partnership.
Background: Magna Carta (Policy & Program)
Background: Statistics
Source: Philippine Overseas Employment Agency 2011 http://www.poea.gov.ph/stats/2010_Stats.pdf
Hong Kong31%
Kuwait23%UAE
14%
Saudi Arabia12%
Qatar11%
Sin-gapor
e3%
Bahrain2%
Oman2%
Cyprus2%
Italy1%
% Deployed Household Worker in Top Ten destination country (2010)
Household Service Workers
57%
Charwork-ers, Clean-ers and Re-
lated Workers
7%
Nurses Pro-fes-
sional7%
Caregivers and Care-
takers5%
Waiters, Bartenders
and Re-lated
Workers5%
Wiremen and elec-
trical Workers
5%
Plumbers and Pipe
Fitter5%
Welders and Flame-
Cutter3%
Housekeeping and Related Service Workers
3%
Bricklayers, Stonemasosn and Tile Setters
3%
Chart Title
No. of Deployed Landbased Overseas Filipino Workers
(2010)
Background: Statistics
Source: Philippine Overseas Employment Agency 2011 http://www.poea.gov.ph/stats/2010_Stats.pdf
Maltreatment and verbal
abuse 15%
Overwork 14%
Sexual ha-rassment and
rape 4%Contract
substitution5%
Court/police cases
4%
Unpaid salary 26%
Personal/health problems/other 27%
Mother/ child repatriation 5%
Reasons for Distress of OFW's(Source: POLO Riyadh)
Historical Evolution: Social Welfare Attaché
1947
• Two positions in the Foreign Service called Social Welfare Attaché. Evelyn Hersey is a social worker who belonged to the world rather than to any one nation.
• Assess and interpret India’s social condition to her superiors. A second duty was to represent; as she put it, “to tell India (when desired) about our United States social problems and programs” n("Evelyn W. Hersey — Pioneer in International Social Work," 1964)
1960
• US state Department experimented with a program that placed social welfare attaché in two US embassies.
• Earlier version of this program just after the World War II when there were welfare attaché position in France and India.
1963
• Mary Catherine Jennings was appointed attaché to Brazilian embassy
• Ruby Pernell was appointed to be Social Welfare attaché to the embassy in India they valued the contribution so highly the the Ambassador specifically requested resintitution of this position (Healy, 2001)
• Pernell's great contribution as a pioneer in the field of social work was her leadership in the field of international social work. (National Association of Social Workers, 2004)
Historical Evolution: Social Welfare Attaché
In 2003, Office of the Social Welfare Attaché in the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur was established. To date, four Social Welfare Attaches have been assigned in Malaysia to provide support to the Philippine Embassy in providing services to distressed Filipinos, particularly those who are victims of human trafficking and to young, sick and elderly Filipinos who are in the Malaysian deportation centers (Cabilao, 2008)
Usec. Parisya Taradji - First Social Welfare Attaché (December 2002 – December 2004)
Generalist Social Worker, Hospital social worker, Palliative Social Worker, Geriatric Social Worker and Social Welfare Attaché
International social work becomes a site for engaging, challenging and re-articulating efforts of social justice (Hugman, Moosa-Mitha, & Moyo, 2010)
International Social Welfare is a field of activity concerned with describing, understanding, evaluating, and promoting human well-being in the international context (Midgley, 1997)
What is Social Welfare Attaché?
Social Welfare Attaché is part of the social work profession that provides social welfare services and immediate care and protection to victims of human trafficking, distressed overseas migrant workers and their family, and is assigned in diplomatic mission to collaborate and coordinate with social welfare organizations and non-governmental organizations toward the promotion of well-being of diaspora communities (Sanchez, 2012)
Social Worker as an Attaché: New Field of Practice (Philippine Setting)
Philippine Social Welfare Attaché:• Undertake surveys and prepare official social welfare situationer’s on the OFWs;• Establish a network with overseas-based social welfare agencies and/or individuals and groups; • Respond to and monitor the resolution of problems and complaints/queries of OFWs and their families; • Establish and maintain a system of data banking and documentation; • Submit regular reports; • Provide information;• Perform other related function in the delivery of social services, as may be directed by the Head of the
Diplomatic Post in the area of assignment.(Executive Order No. "Directing the Deployment/Posting of Social Welfare Attaches in Selected Diplomatic Posts ", 2004 )
• Social welfare services which may include but not limited to stress management, repatriation and other appropriate psychosocial interventions for their protection and welfare (Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, 2012)
US Social Welfare Attaché:• Provide the ambassador and other staff members with reports based on observation and evaluation of social
conditions and social services. • Maintain contacts with local social agencies, interpret and represent US social welfare policies and services,
provide consultation to the embassy on intercountry services• Increase US participation in international social welfare activities, and promote exchanges in the field of social
welfare. • Repatriation of stranded Americans, intercountry adoptions, or arranging for social services for separated
families (Healy, 2001)• Social Welfare attaches were in contact with groups that did not normally interact with the embassy. • Observe and report what was going on in social development. (Healy, 2001)
What are the Challenges and Opportunities?
• From July to December 2008, 177 distressed Filipinos and victims of trafficking. • 20% male while majority or 80% were female. • Labour trafficking- 54 or 30% (9 male and 45 female) victims• Sex trafficking- 63 or 35% female were victims of sex trafficking.• 51 distressed Filipinos (21 male and 30 female) were either overstaying, sick,
old, or pregnant. • 9 children born to one Malaysian parent but without proper documentation
were considered overstaying aliens and had to be repatriated.
Increasing number of
cases handled, 800 distressed OFWs (DSWD,
2011).
• Often employed as household helpers. They ran away either because of long working hours, insufficient rest and food, lack of working visa and were considered overstaying foreigners.
• Male labour trafficking victims worked as waiters, farm workers, factory and construction workers.
• On the other hand, the female victims of sex trafficking are employed in massage parlours, bars and pub houses.
• Subjected to restrained movement and confiscation of passports and confined in locked quarters (Cabilao, 2009).
Victims of human
trafficking
What are the Challenges and Opportunities?
Systematic coordination and synchronized delivery of psychosocial services
Social Welfare Attaché facilitated the safe return of some 51,824 deportees and repatriates to the Philippines from 2002 to June of 2008(DSWD, 2008)
Direct supervision of the Head of Mission or the Ambassador in Malaysia and under the technical supervision of the Office of the DSWD Secretary
Continuity given the budgetary requirements
Social Welfare needs to respond to clients that were often subjected to restrained movement and confiscation of passports and confined in locked quarters.(Cabilao, 2009)
As a result of his work combating trafficking, which included testifying against them in legal proceedings in Malaysia, Mr. Cabilao received death threats from traffickers – death threats that ultimately appear to have been acted upon (Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, 2009)
What are the Challenges and Opportunities?
Social Work Intern with ISSJ shall be under the joint supervision of the Department and ISSJ. (Republic of the Philippines, 2008).
But individual parts of the movement—particular defenders and organizations—remain vulnerable, in need of support. Malaysia, where Finardo Cabilao, a social welfare attaché at the Philippines embassy, was found bludgeoned to death in August. He appears to have been targeted because of his work combating human trafficking. (Roth, 2010)
Ople Center recommended that a team composed of the most battle-tested labor and welfare attaches, social welfare attaches as well as consular officers be dispatched to Syria (Santos, 2011)
social welfare attaché broadened the embassy’s contacts with government and the wider society, building relationships that no other unit in the embassy ha and was seen as building positive image (Healy, 200
“The values of provision of social welfare expertise to governmental bodies in international relation s and the centrality of issues of social development to social, economic, and political relations should be promoted in all nations”(Healy, 2001, p. 74)
ConclusionsImportant component of diplomatic mission of labor sending countries
Social Welfare Attaché is also important for developed countries in promoting engagement
Recognise as an emerging field of Social Work practice
Protection to those especially involved in human trafficking cases
Social Welfare Attaché is relatively a new area of practice that the social worker needs to expound its knowledge and skills to be effective member of the delivery of diplomatic services to migrant workers.
Social Welfare Attaché to initiate organization and coordination with diaspora organizations
Research is needed in documenting the contribution of Social Welfare attaché and to have clear guidelines in monitoring and evaluation of its responsibilities.
“This brutal crime reminds us that social work is dangerous work, wherever it takes place’, ‘Supporting people whose human rights are
being abused is never easy. The powerful always find ways to challenge and resist. Social workers around the world are shocked by this
crime” (Dr. Jones IFSW President 2009
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Finardo Cabilao, in Malaysia Retrieved January 25, 2010, from http://refugeerightsasiapacific.org/2009/09/02/statement-on-the-torture-and-murder-of-anti%E2%80%90trafficking-philippines-social-welfare-attache-finardo-cabilao-in-malaysia/
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