UNICEF’s Vision for Elevating Parenting

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Age focus: Older than six

UNICEF’s Vision for Elevating Parenting

UNICEF’s vision for integrated, multilevel programming moves beyond approaching parents as recipients of information or education, to a more collaborative partnership where there is a co-construction of support for the child as well as for/with the parents themselves.

Key features include:

1) moving towards strengths-based rather than “deficit-focused” approaches;

2) employing a life course lens;

3) meeting systems where they are and elevating parenting support in existing platforms;

4) explicit articulation of gender-responsive and disability-inclusive approaches;

5) focus on culturally responsive community engagement and empowerment, and promoting enabling environments to support parents and caregivers.

Evidence Brief – Parents, Play and Emotional Wellbeing

The UK Government has recognised the impact that parents playing, talking to and reading to their children has on early language development. This is fantastic. But the benefits of play are much wider: it contributes to cognitive, motor, emotional and social development. Play should be thought of as a vehicle to improve a wide range of outcomes for children, as well as an important part of a happy childhood.

This evidence brief describes what we know about how early play between children and their parents contributes to emotional development and mental health. It also explains why and how policy makers might use this information in their work.

Playful Parenting Activity Booklet

This booklet contains ideas for parents and caregivers to help support their young child’s physical, cognitive and social-emotional development. The booklet includes specific ideas for children from 0-9 and is broken into helpful sections based on a young child’s developmental milestones.

Parents’ Corner. How to work with Roma parents effectively

ENG: PARENTS’ CORNER. HOW TO WORK WITH ROMA PARENTS EFFECTIVELY
BG: КЪТЧЕ ЗА РОДИТЕЛИ. ЗАЩО И КАК ДА ИЗГРАДИМ ПАРТНЬОРСТВО СЪС СЕМЕЙСТВАТА?

The Parents’ Corner brochure examines successful strategies for effective collaboration with the parent community, and also provides additional information on the importance of parental involvement in the educational process.

The misconceptions described in the brochure regarding Roma parents provide an opportunity for active discussion of the problems and challenges that lead to limiting the participation of parents of Roma origin in the school life of educational institutions.

Roma Children’s Participation: Shaping Responses to COVID-19 in the EU and Bulgaria

This policy paper presents research on the impact of COVID-19 of Roma children and the barriers to their health and wellbeing and the potential of participatory responses. The findings are set in the current context of child poverty and related EU initiatives on poverty and participation. Lessons to learned are highlighted and priority actions are recommended.

This paper reports information from professionals working with young Roma, from 13 organisations in 9 European countries (Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, North Macedonia, Romania, Spain and the UK) and participatory practice with children facing discrimination.

Education and professional realization of the Roma community

Education and professional realization of the Roma community / Образование и реализация на ромската общност

The study was conducted in 140 settlements in Bulgaria. To overcome the lack of up-to-date information, TSA worked together with a sociological agency, Global Metrics, to conduct a nationally representative study on the Roma communities in Bulgaria. The purpose of the study is to determine the level of higher education among the Roma population by comparing it with the already conducted study from 2011.

Travelling Travellers. An overview of the living conditions of travelling Travellers and existing supporting initiatives

ENG: Travelling Travellers. An overview of the living conditions of travelling Travellers and existing supporting initiatives

NL: Rondtrekkende woonwagenbewoners. Een overzicht van de leefomstandigheden van rondtrekkende woonwagenbewoners en bestaande initiatieven ter ondersteuning

Travellers travel around for different reasons. While for some it is part of their specific way of life, in recent years an increasing number of Travellers in Flanders, Belgium have been forced to travel around due to a lack of encampment sites. This situation makes them vulnerable. Because this problem is relatively recent, however, the group of travelling Travellers has largely remained under the research radar until now. The aim of the present study, commissioned by the Flemish Agency for Home Affairs and conducted by the research institute HIVA, was therefore to gain more insight into the living and housing situation of travelling Travellers in Flanders, Belgium.

The research is focused on:

1) the living conditions and social participation of travelling Travellers,

2) the existing support, guidance and assistance for travelling Travellers.

Subsequently, policy recommendations based on the results of these two focus areas were made. Subject of the study were both Belgian and foreign travelling Travellers. Data was collected by various qualitative research methods, among which interviews with Travellers about their current and desired living situation and interviews with key figures such as practitioners and policy officers.

The resource is in Dutch language.