Caring for the Caregiver – Implementer’s Guide

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Year: 2019

Caring for the Caregiver – Implementer’s Guide

In accordance with evidence from the Lancet and UNICEF recommendations on Early Childhood Development and Nurturing Care, preventive support for caregiver health and emotional well-being is key to optimal child development. There is recognition that frontline workers, who are often community volunteers and caregivers themselves, are not equipped with adequate skills to enable them to support caregiver needs.

Caring for the Caregiver (CFC) provides curriculum for training frontline workers to address barriers to responsive caregiving and it provides supporting implementation materials for counselling caregivers. CFC training translates well-established evidence on how to support emotional well-being and mental health, presenting these in practical activities which encourage self-care, family. engagement and social support.

CFC was developed for the UNICEF West and Central Africa Regional Office (WCARO) with the support of LEGO Foundation.

#DreamToGrow

When it comes to policies, strategies, and programs that support the inclusion of the most vulnerable and marginalized children, we cannot fail to consider the early childhood development (ECD) professionals with the same cultural and ethnic backgrounds as the children with whom they work.

The Dream to Grow campaign shares 12 multipurpose advocacy stories, highlighting  the successes of Roma ECD professionals who are supporting Roma children and families in their countries – celebrating the example they are setting for future generations.

These inspiring stories highlight Roma ECD professionals’ different pathways to become who they are today, following Roma standing with dignity and pride, ready to shape Europe’s future, and rewrite the current narrative.

REYN aims to contribute to creating more inclusive and equitable societies by advocating for increasing diversity in the ECD workforce, strengthening professionalism, and giving more recognition to the Roma ECD professionals for their invaluable work. In the quest to shape a better future for the new generations, there is a dire need to work closely with Roma professionals. Positive role models, such as Roma ECD professionals, break negative stereotypes in society in general, and for the children, they do that from the early years. They demonstrate that, with the right support and a nurtured belief in oneself, it is possible to break the vicious circle that has entrapped the Roma minority in Europe for centuries.

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What we mean by: Playful Parenting in the early years

The LEGO Foundation aims to build a future in which learning through play empowers all children to become creative, engaged, life-long learners. Parents are fundamental to that aim, as they are heavily invested in their children’s development and learning. While this is true across all ages of children, this leaflet has a critical focus on children from birth to three years old. The importance of parenting for infants and young children in this age group cannot be overstated.

This leaflet brings together our understanding of playful experiences that lead to deeper learning, with the international conversation around high quality parenting.

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.

Developing Transitional Activities for Romani Children and Their Families for Smoothing the Transition between Home and Institutional Environment. Case Study – Slovenia

The START project explored ways to facilitate participation in ECEC of Romani children, especially by easing transitions between home and ECEC or school environments and by working with families. The case study is a source of inspiration as it details and evaluates a range of activities over a 2-year period.

TOY for Inclusion – Voices of Children

Social inclusion begins with young children’s eagerness to play together.

TOY for Inclusion Play Hubs offer inclusive spaces where children and families from different backgrounds are encouraged to play and learn: Children are allowed to borrow toys, parents can gather information about their child’s development and individuals of all ages are given space to come together.

Download the booklet, which shares the stories told by the children attending these Play Hubs.

NESET report on integration of Roma citizens in Spain

The network of experts working on the social dimension of education and training (NESET) has recently published an ad hoc report titled ‘Overview of the integration of Roma citizens in Spain and some transferable lessons for the EU’.

The new report, prepared by Silvia Carrasco Pons and Gabriela Poblet Denti, provides an overview of the social integration of Roma in Spain, evidence on the progress made, effective policies and approaches within the areas of employment, education, housing and health.