ABSTRACT
In this chapter, Saji Thomas takes us through his career journey in child-centred social work (CSW) without borders and gives us an insight into what consumes him as a professional. He narrates his early job experience of coordinating a network of organisations for street children. The chapter moves to his engagement with an international non-government organisation Save the Children UK, and then to UNICEF in Tamil Nadu and Bihar, where he worked on responding to children affected by disasters, In Sri Lanka, he worked on tracing and restoring missing children and service delivery for rehabilitation of children associated with armed conflict. He was the global focal person for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support at UNICEF Headquarters, engaged with child protection system strengthening in Egypt for addressing violence against children and harmful practices, and now looking at child protection in gulf countries. He explores his roles and engagement as an activist, a social worker, policy influencer, and as an international bureaucrat at some length. In his reflections, Saji raises pertinent issues about the future of CSW in the context of technological and societal changes.
