During the general assembly held this weekend in the province of Veraguas, the president of the Association of Social Workers of Panama (ATSOP), Kenia Batista, presented her management report for 2023–2025, making it clear that in her leadership style, progress is always collective. Batista framed her entire administration on the principles of ubuntu, "I am because we are", Buen Vivir, and Latin American and Afro-descendant critical thinking. From this perspective, she highlighted that every step taken during her mandate was a collective exercise, where the Board of Directors was, as she repeated time and again, the "backbone, support, and institutional compass".
"Nothing was improvised" The leader emphasized that the main advances, both institutional and administrative, were the fruit of planned and collegial processes. She recalled that the World Conference of Social Work Panama 2024 represented an international milestone made possible only by "the leadership, discipline, and organization" of the Board of Directors. In administrative matters, she highlighted the strengthening of internal audits, financial controls, and institutional transparency, also under that directive accompaniment that, according to her, reviewed everything from signatures to documents and procedures.
Global presence and national articulation Batista stressed that Panama celebrated an unprecedented cycle of international leadership by simultaneously hosting the Global Vice-Presidency of the FITS and the Regional Presidency of the CIP. She added that this global visibility was sustained with technical and institutional coherence, "thanks to that same Board of Directors". She also highlighted ATSOP's articulation with federations, coordinators, and technical tables at the national level, ensuring that each participation was discussed, debated, and approved by the collegiate leadership.
Institutional defense and firm decisions The president informed that, in the face of the improper use of the institutional and personal image, the guild activated legal mechanisms supported by Law 81 on Personal Data, the 2024 Digital Responsibility regulation, and the Penal Code. "Their work, often done in silence and under complex conditions, impacts lives, transforms realities, and sustains the hope of thousands of Panamanian families," she highlighted.
The minister stated that "today I want to reaffirm, with the utmost respect and appreciation, that from the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development we deeply value your profession." Each complaint, she assured, was accompanied by that same board of directors.
Guild House and generational renewal Referring to the Guild House project, she explained that the technical-administrative process is advancing with rigor and without improvisations. In addition, she announced the creation of the ATSOP School of Cadres, a platform that seeks to ensure a "mature, ethical, and politically firm" generational renewal. "We don't come here with blood in our eyes," Batista said in a message that sounded both like an internal call and a preventive warning. She called for union maturity and reminded that the law sets limits that must be respected. "When someone thinks only from their individual experience, they lose the union perspective," she said.
