WHY IS IT NECESSARY TO DEFINE CORE COMPETENCIES?
“In order to effectively protect and care for children, you need to offer quality services and meet their needs in a manner that takes into account their rights and best interests. This means that personnel working with children, regardless of the institution they report to, must be suitably trained and equipped to know how to interact with children, adapt and coordinate their interventions to suit the needs, profiles and personal situations of the children in their care. Investing in training on how to act, interact and react in response to the various backgrounds and profiles of children, while protecting their rights and best interests, is essential for strengthening child protection systems.” - Najat Maalla M’jid, United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children (2020)
Having a clear reference document on core competencies can be very useful. For example, it can help hiring authorities prepare job descriptions, determine what qualities candidates should have or help supervisors guide employees in their capacity development in order to be more effective in their jobs. Moreover, having a series of well defined core competencies can be helpful when creating or updating training programmes and when assessing whether training is leading to improved services and trajectories for children within the protection system.
© AdobeStock / NOBU
Core competencies can also be used to establish a standard level of service to better protect the public, evaluate services, reform practices and, in this context, ensure that the child’s experience is a key consideration when planning work methods and services. By adopting a core competency framework, professional organisations can structure and standardise their interventions involving children and, in particular, ensure that children participate in the process.
Finally, using a competency-based approach is an effective way for professionals to strengthen their capacities pertaining to children’s rights. While different competencies are needed for different professions, certain core competencies are essential for all personnel working in child protection. All of these workers play an essential role in the child’s journey by respecting and upholding their rights. Regardless of their occupation, they all have the same final objective: to protect the best interests of the child. For this reason, all workers who interact with children must follow an established methodology, take into account each child’s specific needs, and ensure that the rights of children are respected in every regard in their interventions.
- 13 -
