LocationsSocial work for one year, learning and skills for life
July 14, 2022
This year, we mark the World Youth Skills Day as efforts continue worldwide to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the world is faced with multiple other interconnected challenges - climate change, conflicts, persisting poverty and rising inequality. The COVID crisis has accelerated the transitions the world of work was already undergoing, adding uncertainty to the skills and competencies that will be demanded by employees in the future.
One area of work that's been in demand and is projected to grow globally is that of social work. Rapidly growing needs have demonstrated how essential well-trained social workers are for any society to flourish. The three of us — Danijela, Fikri and Shkurta — are part of a cohort of 40 UN Volunteers who were engaged in Centers for Social Work across Kosovo by the Humanitarian Assistance Project (HAP), funded by European Union Kosovo and implemented by UNDP. We recently got together to reflect on our experiences and extract lessons we can use in the future while practicing our noble profession.
Danijela Petrović - UN Volunteer engaged at the Center for Social Work in Zveçan/Zvečan
From the very beginning, it became clear that this experience would shape up to be a defining one. When one of us informed the interview panel that if selected, she would need additional assistance in the course of her work engagement because of special needs, her expectations were quite low - based on previous experience. But it turned out quite the contrary. She received continuous support throughout the year, as all of us did, to make the most use of this opportunity and sharpen our skills to reach professional goals in the future.
In one year, we realized how deep the problems run in our society - how much care and commitment is needed, how sensitive and serious people's difficulties can be - as we were in direct contact with people and their problems.
Fikri Hajdari, UN Volunteer engaged at the Center for Social Work in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica South
We worked on solving the problem of domestic violence and bullying, which has been on the rise in recent years and represents a danger to our society. Working with bullies is very stressful, risky and requires perseverance and persistence. The work of a social worker is stressful, not only when it comes to violence, but also when dealing with divorce and granting custody of children to parents. Sometimes you are exposed to the anger of these people, their threats.
But this profession also has its good side. It is a great success and satisfaction when you manage to help someone save their marriage, when you point out mistakes to different parties and show them how to be more tolerant towards each other, or when you work with a juvenile offender and redirect them to a different and better path.
Shkurta Bregovina – UN Volunteer engaged at the Center for Social Work in Obiliq/Obilić
From the kind acts of child adoption to simple administrative tasks, the one-year engagement at Centers for Social Work offered us a chance to acquire the most humane of virtues. Today we stand matured and enriched by the experience, which requires empathy, patience, perseverance and understanding. Social work is a dynamic job that requires you to face and solve problems every day and help other people, which is a great satisfaction.
One of the most important lessons from this experience is to listen attentively - because every story has many versions - and never to draw conclusions from a sensitive narrative. Another one is also our motto: society's problems are ours and the sooner we address them, the better. Doing so requires continuous, lifelong learning by the new generation of social workers, whose full engagement is vital to generate positive change and innovation.
Psychologists and UN Volunteers Danijela Petrović, Fikri Hajdari and Shkurta Bregovina
