The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Friday, held a capacity building workshop for capacity building workshop for programme officers, comprising Social Welfare, Community Development and Assistant Cadres, in the Ministry; in order to enable them gain new skills and knowledge that can improve their performance and efficiency.
Speaking at the event in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, who was represented by the Special Assistant on Admin, Malam Mohammed Dauda, said that skills and knowledge gained by staff of the ministry will not only help them to build on their professional competence, but will allow them to feel valued
He said: “This training is very important and timely as it presents the opportunity to impact the knowledge and necessary information to the officers for optimal performance. As you may be aware, the purpose of training is to enable members of staff gain new skills and knowledge that can improve their performance and efficiency.
“As professional social workers responsible for social service delivery in the whole spectrum of social work practices of the Social Development Sector, we cannot afford not to keep abreast with the full knowledge and information on the best practice as required of the profession. It is my genuine advice that participants avail themselves of the opportunity to engage positively by contributing and giving the Resource Persons maximum cooperation so that the purpose of this programme can be fully achieved.”
Also speaking, the Director, Social Development Department, Mr Taiwo Ademola Bashorun, said that the training will expose participants to contemporary issues in social work as well as expose them to tactics, techniques and procedures that improves operational effectiveness in addressing emerging social issues.
“You will all agree with me that training to build the capacity of officers will greatly enhance their performance in service delivery, as the skills and knowledge gained by participants would not only help to build on their professional development, but it allows them to feel valued. In that way, it provides the opportunities for workers to be more driven towards achieving their professional goals,” he said.
On his part, the President, National Association of Social Workers (NASoW), Alhaji Mashood Mustapha, said that social workers deserve a pride of place in society as they provide professional needs to almost everyone.