Early Childhood Development/Better Parenting (ECD/BP) Project - Jordan
Implemented in 1998, this five-year project was designed to provide parents and caregivers of very young children with the necessary knowledge, skills, and social services concerning child rearing, specifically in the areas of health, nutrition, and social-emotional development. Local facilitators were trained to deliver courses. The project focussed on urban and rural families disadvantaged by conditions of poverty, no or minimal employment, and low literacy.
The project focussed on the following four areas:
The courses offered by trained local facilitators included:
The project focussed on the following four areas:
- Identifying and assessing gaps in knowledge and skills among different beneficiary groups including parents, social services providers, and decision makers;
- Supporting advocacy events and the development of relevant information material focussing on decision makers, parents, and caregivers within the context of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC);
- Continuing the development of training material to be used by participating partners with community outreach facilities and non-governmental organisations to enable them to adopt and incorporate better parenting strategies and methods;
- Supporting the formation of core teams of trainers/supervisors from ministries and NGOs for the development of resource centres, including centres for children with disabilities.
The courses offered by trained local facilitators included:
- Better parenting content
- Socialisation: family, school, religion, peers, media
- Communication skills within families
- Relationship between family and school
- Gender roles in the family
Development Issues
Early Childhood Development (ECD), Children, Rights, Nutrition, Gender, Economic Development, Health.
Key Points
A quarter of Jordanian children, or about 225,000, are between 0 to 6 years of age.
A national survey conducted by UNICEF Jordan on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to early childhood care among Jordanian parents showed that the majority of parents do not have the information and skills needed to create a stimulating home environment, especially in the areas related to social and emotional development. The Better Parenting Project was created to address these needs of parents.
This programme was built upon pilot phases initiated in 1996. The pilots demonstrated positive impact of parental education tools in increasing parental knowledge of child growth and development and improving patterns of parenting.
A national survey conducted by UNICEF Jordan on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to early childhood care among Jordanian parents showed that the majority of parents do not have the information and skills needed to create a stimulating home environment, especially in the areas related to social and emotional development. The Better Parenting Project was created to address these needs of parents.
This programme was built upon pilot phases initiated in 1996. The pilots demonstrated positive impact of parental education tools in increasing parental knowledge of child growth and development and improving patterns of parenting.
Partners
UNICEF Middle East & North Africa (MENA), Community Empowerment Project, Al-Nassr (East Amman) Local Area Committee, General Union of Voluntary Societies, Jordanian Women's Union, Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Youth, Noor Al-Hussein Foundation, United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
Sources
Letter from Prasanthi Gondi, UNICEF on January 28, 2003.
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