A child care law specialist from Switalskis Solicitors was selected to share their child protection expertise when a delegation from Kurdistan visited the region last week.
Switalskis director Ranjit Uppal, a specialist family and children solicitor, hosted a delegation of six Kurdish government ministers at the firm’s Huddersfield office on 27 April.
The event was part of a two-week UK visit organised by the international children’s charity, Supportive Families for Abandoned Children (SFAC), which works to raise standards in child care and foster care across the world. The purpose of the visit was to help shape the development of a government foster care programme in Kurdistan.
Uppal spoke to the members of the Kurdistan Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs about the UK child protection system and the role of local authorities and family courts in making decisions about children’s welfare.
As part of the two-week visit, which continued into this week, the delegation also met representatives from the police force and judiciary, social and children’s services, guardians and foster carers. They also visited a British court and saw a mock child protection court hearing.
SFAC founder Mick Pease said: “We’re incredibly grateful to the team at Switalskis for their support, and to Ranjit for sharing his expertise. He is an invaluable supporter and has delivered an incredibly insightful event today, which has given our delegates a wealth of information and knowledge to take back to Kurdistan.”