In the following period, the cantons in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) will express their opinion on the text of the Law on the Basics of Professional Work in the Social and Child Protection System, which was sent to the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, through public consultations.
For the first time, this law regulates and regulates the professional status of professional workers in the field of social protection, prescribes clear standards of professional work, introduces mandatory licensing, supervision and continuous professional training, and precisely defines the professional autonomy and responsibility of social workers.
“For the first time, a unique framework is being established at the level of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina that protects the title and activity of a social worker and sets uniform standards of behavior throughout the system,” explained Federal Minister of Labor and Social Policy Adnan Delić.
He added that the text of the law was prepared in cooperation with experts from the social protection system, representatives of centers for social work, the academic community and international organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, so that solutions are based on practice, experience and international standards.
“We have been saying for years that the status of social workers must be clearly regulated. With this law, we are doing that specifically. We are regulating their professional position, responsibility and public powers. When a social worker leads the process of removing a child from the family or makes other difficult and sensitive decisions, he must have clear professional authority and institutional protection. It is a question of the dignity of the profession, but also of the seriousness of the state towards the work these people do,” said Delić.
He reminded that the issue of the official status of social workers in terms of criminal law has not yet been resolved.
“For more than three years, we have been proposing to amend the Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina so that social workers would receive the status of an official in the sense of criminal law. Today, they testify as witnesses in court proceedings, even though they are the ones who led the professional proceedings and made the decisions. In addition to this status being important from the point of view of their protection and safety in the field, it is also important in terms of institutional recognition and the dignity of their profession. We will not give up on that request either,” said the minister.
After public consultations, the Law entered the official parliamentary procedure, which will go through two rounds of reading, given that the Law is in the form of a preliminary draft, it says Klix.
