In Nepal, the ICDP programme is being implemented with mothers who receive the government Child Grant cash transfer programme. A study of the impact on parenting behaviours was completed in 2024 and the results have been published by Save the Children.
The parenting intervention aimed to boost parenting behaviours that are recognized as crucial for children’s socio-emotional and cognitive development.
Based on direct observation of mother-child interactions, the findings indicate that the programme was successful in significantly improving parental behaviours related to all four domains studied, i.e., affection, responsiveness, encouragement and teaching.
A short article about the success of the ICDP programme was recently published, titled: Ivory Coast – AIP/ A community project strengthens family communication in homes in Taoudi. Here is the link to it:
The English translation of the original text of this article in French, follows below:
Bondoukou, July 31, 2024 (AIP) – The agent of the social center of Taoudi (101 km from Bondoukou) and focal point of the project initiated by the organization Save the Children”, Brou Edoukou Jean Charles, praised the merits of the International Program of Child Development (ICDP), in strengthening communication between children and their parents in Taoudi.
This community initiative aims to improve parenting practices and thus the development and well-being of the child.
According to Brou Edoukou Jean Charles, this project has improved family relationships in his locality. “The beneficiaries have learned that they must devote time to their children and interact with them, have moments of intimacy with them,” he said.
The repercussions are visible with a reduction in the number of cases of child abuse, according to these registers and a positive impact on populations.
For the director of this social center, N’Dri Affoué Clémence, this project gave the children the joy of living again.
“They are happy and live in perfect harmony with their parents,” she greeted, during a contact tour, from Monday July 22 to Saturday July 27, 2024.
This vision is part of the programs, “towards an inclusive and violence-free environment for the most vulnerable girls and boys in Bondoukou and “child-sensitive social protection”, launched on March 24, 2022.
Amounting 1.2 million euros, or 787,148,400 million FCFA for a period of four years, these programs are intended to increase and promote the rights and well-being of children in the region. of Gontougo.
July 2024: In Colombia, a project called “Women with a Soul” is currently developing in the village of Santa Teresa, in the eastern part of Antioquia. The objective is to strengthen socio-emotional capacities in the women as the basis for the strengthening of family relationships and the development of rural entrepreneurship processes in the area.
In the village of Santa Teresa in the Municipality of Rionegro, Antioquia there are more than 500 families, 80% of whom belong to strata 1, 2 and 3, with low economic income and unsatisfied basic needs.
Among its main problems are: a macho culture, problems of alcoholism, in some cases domestic violence, school dropouts, conflicts between families, unemployment, the growing consumption of psychoactive substances in young people and adults.
The village has many opportunities for growth such as the Community Action Board that works for the development of its inhabitants, the rural school that is financed by the Secretary of Education and a group of women that for 4 years has been advancing in processes of empowerment and personal growth, some of them have managed to consolidate processes of entrepreneurship and financial autonomy (this with the support of social entities such as ICDP Colombia and Fundación Club Campestre).
This project “Women with Soul” seeks to strengthen and give continuity to the effort and commitment of some women in the village who have managed to develop socio-emotional skills and leadership, strengthen their family relationships and consolidate enterprises.
The project allows multiplying the experience of women like Mercedes Carvajal, who through the Alma Botánica entrepreneurship and with the support of ICDP Colombia want to impact other women in the area, giving continuity to the training and personal growth processes.
The beneficiaries of the project are 20 women, from the village of Santa Teresa in the Municipality of Rionegro, between 25 and 60 years of age, The women are illiterate or with low schooling, they are economically dependent on men, and they are dedicated to domestic work including the upbringing of children and grandchildren. All have available land to produce home gardens, crops and other uses in favour of self-consumption and entrepreneurship.
In this project, the community contributes the soil, its ancestral knowledge for the development of productive projects and the experiences of clean production with organic fertilizers, such as bocashi, for the care of nature and protection of the natural reserve in which they live.
The ICDP Colombia Foundation has joined this project by contributing its knowledge to improve family relationships through the implementation of the ICDP programme. Three ICDP volunteers who accompany this community. Abel Salazar, ICDP trainer, is overseeing the work.
An article is available about the impact of ICDP on school achievement. It was published in the Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, Volume 65, 2021 – Issue 3. The article is called A First Examination of the Role of the International Child Development Programme in School Achievement. The authors are: Lilian Berggren, Lene Lindberg, Terese Glatz and Therese Skoog.
The aim of this study was to explore whether the classroom implementation of the International Child Development Programme (ICDP) for secondary school students (grade 9) was linked to better school achievement. The goal of the ICDP is to increase school achievement by promoting positive teacher-student relationships. The study, performed in Sweden, applied a pre–post design (four years) with matched intervention and control schools (N = 148). The post-intervention assessments showed that there were significant differences in school achievement in Grade 9 between the intervention school and the control school. Specifically, a greater proportion of students at the intervention school demonstrated improvement in school subjects and achieved the competency requirements to enter an upper secondary school programme. Based on the results, the ICDP can be considered an important intervention to promote student learning by promoting positive teacher-student relationships.
ICDP is being implemented by our partner organization, Ark and Mark. Update from their report:
Since parenting is still crucial in Botswana, Ark and Mark Trust has benefited from financing received from the Department of Social Protection (DSP) to reach additional communities in the nation. ICDP made significant strides in promoting child development in various villages in Botswana. The programme was implemented in Thamaga, Molepolole, Ramotswa, Gabane, and for the first time, Lobatse. Lobatse notably became the first town to self-sponsor its participation in the ICDP.
The Social Welfare & Community Development (S&CD) office of Lobatse Town Council identified the need for a follow-up intervention programme to address the issue of negligent or absent parents affecting street children in Lobatse. They requested theICDP programme for this purpose. Consequently, the town council sponsored the training of 42 facilitators to implement the ICDP in their community. Inspired by the success of the ICDP in other villages, Lobatse Town Council took this proactive step in June 2023. By leveraging the trained facilitators, the council aimed to drive local development and improve community well-being.
“I am excited to share with you an update up to mid June 2024! As part of the project, we are in the process of conducting training of six gorups of facilitators, four inside the valley and two outside the valley. All these groups participated in second workshop, so they are now conducting the eight ICDP meetings with caregivers. In addition, we are training three other groups of facilitators through private funding, and we plan to form three more groups of facilitators during the year. A great achievement this year is that we succeeded in organizing the ICDP Nepal Facilitators Network Meeting outside the valley for the first time! There were 88 participants. We also plan to hold a netowrk meeting inside the valley, this year too. Furthermore, we have developed in our yearly plan, a refresher programme for the ICDP trainers. We have already revised the Nepali version of the ICDP handbook for the facilitators and we started revising the caregivers’ booklets.” – Anupama Mukhiawrites.
From the report by Anupama Mukhiawrites, from ICDP Nepal/ECEC:
A major objective of ICDP Nepal is to increase psychosocial well-being of children in the country through improved parent-child communication. To achieve this objective, ECEC collaborates with educational institutions, local government and civil societies. Since the project’s inception in year 2015, a total of 967 facilitators were formed, who belong to more than 50 different organizations working for children. There is a total of 38 trainers in the country, including ICDP trainers under Save the Children. Through their work ICDP Nepal was able to reach many parents in remote areas of the country, empowering them as parents and enhancing their participation in civil society.
Testimony
ICDP Caregiver Sunita Buda, Bhume 5, Serawang, Rukum East: “I am 22 years old, and I have been married for 4 years. I have five members in my family. My daughter is now 3 years old. Prior to ICDP caregivers’ meetings, I mistreated my daughter. I used to prioritize daily chores and force my daughter to study by shouting, spanking, and threatening her. I did not validate her emotions. However, after participating in the caregivers’ meeting, I have become aware of my negative behavior towards my daughter. Now I look at her from a positive perspective.
From the report by ICDP trainers, Gread Zeny and Mary Jade Paitan:
The year 2023 has been a great year, when we started the national scale up of the ICDP parenting programme, which is the flagship intervention of the Child Sensitive Social Protection (CSSP) project for the Pantawid Programme (4Ps) households of Region VIII. The roadmap for the national scale up was formulated during the operational planning and field visit conducted at the end of January, 2023. The national programme management Office (NPMO) team visited the CSSP project area where they attended a parenting session conducted by 4Ps parent leaders who were trained as ICDP facilitators. Decisions were made regarding the ICDP national scale up modalities, budget, training schedules per cluster of regions, and specific 4Ps staff to be invited.
First batch of the Facilitator level Training was conducted in Davao City from 1-4 of August, 2023. The workshop was attended by 26 (female – 19, male – 7). The group was comprised of 4Ps staff from Regions IX, X, XI, XII, CARAGA and BARMM, including focal persons from Family Development Session (FDS), Training Specialists, Gender and Development and Institutional Partnership Division in their respective regions. The second part of their training was conducted 5 – 8 of September. Participants were happy about the content of the training as they saw it as effective and relevant for the 4Ps households – and they saw it having a positive impact on the parents and their families. The second batch of the training took place 7 – 10 of November (first part) and 18 – 21 of December.
While the national scale up schedules and schemes were being set, ICDP capacity strengthening of 4Ps staff in Region VIII (this region being the social laboratory for the ICDP) was also intensified. A total of 226 Municipal Roving Bookkeepers (MRBs) and Social Welfare Assistants (SWAs) (female – 179; male – 47) of the 4Ps were trained as facilitators in May, in addition to the 636 existing staff members. The objective is to implement the parenting programme in their respective municipality in line with the 7-year Transformative Learning Path of the Kilos Unlad Framework. Six Social Worker Officers from Region VIII who were trained earlier were certified as ICDP Facilitators at the end of the facilitator level training. On the other hand, 64 (female – 55, male – 9) parent leaders, community volunteers and NACPHIL members were also trained as ICDP parenting facilitators in Ormoc City Leyte. Currently, they are facilitating under Save the Children Philippines (SCP) covered areas in Region VIII. A total of 1,331 (female – 1,152; male – 179) participated in the on-going parenting programme.
A new partnership was forged between SCP, Ormoc City Parents Teachers Associations (PTA) and the Department of Education – Ormoc division. 20 PTA officers, school guidance counselors and teachers were trained as ICDP facilitators funded by the Local School Board of Ormoc City in May. The request for the parenting training was to address alarming issues on teenage pregnancy and mental health among children and youth students of Ormoc City.
RESEARCH
In Samar, the expansion of the CSSP project was started through a research study on nutrition and health of 0-5 years old children. A total of 200 mothers of 0-5 years-old children who are 4Ps members were selected to participate in the study. The project aims to enhance mothers’ ability to feed and care for infant and young children, especially during the first 1000 days, through the ICDP parenting programme and a nutrition session. It is hoped that the research study will show positive health and nutrition outcomes on children. Baseline data collection was already completed and the endline data collection has been on-going since 200 mothers graduated from the ICDP programme in April 2023. As part of the project implementation strategy, the 200 mothers were formed into FSGs (Family Support Groups) as a sustainability structure/mechanism. A total of 8 such groups were formed.
Valentina Ten, ICDP trainer from Tashkent, has shared her news from South Korea:
“I have good news to share. After moving to Korea from Uzbekistan, in 2023, I have been looking for an opportunity to continue sharing the ICDP principles and working in the education field. Of course, being an immigrant, there were certain difficulties. But I believe a good thing always finds a way to be shared.
In partnership with the local office (it is a kind of Social Welfare Community Centre) in the area where I live, we launched an ICDP group as part of the project for immigrants.
Since the war in Ukraine, the number of Russian-speaking migrants in Korea has been growing. In view of this, the local authorities are helping them adjust and were open to me applying the ICDP programme. We can use the centre’s premises and the local office covers all administrative expenses, including coffee breaks.
It is a small project serving 15 people, but it is a good start, I believe.
In 2023, Afghanistan was ranked 170th out of 170 nations in the world for security, justice, and women’s inclusion.[1] Food insecurity is still one of the biggest challenges in Afghanistan. Save the Children, an international NGO, reported in December 2023 that one out of every three children will suffer from hunger in 2024.
With so many obstacles to overcome in 2023, there was much opportunity for IAM employees to advance through capacity building programs. The management team attended the ICDP training. A team of the IAM counsellors and trainers also participated in a workshop with focused on child development.
We had opportunity to conduct ICDP training for community volunteer, community leaders, parents and teachers.
Parents who received ICDP Trainings considered this training necessary for all families. They appreciated the knowledge of trainers and asked IAM, if possible, convey the messages to all parents in the community. In addition, they promised to share the topics with other families.
The teachers, who trained in ICDP topics, said these training enhance their capacity to work together and teach children without violence, this will create a secure and happy learning environment for both teachers and students. They also requested IAM to conduct more trainings for teachers as they believe the trainings helped increasing the level of flexibility among the teachers and students. They added that there are still many untrained teachers who are not behaving the students rightly. They emphasized the role of IAM in term of including untrained teachers in these trainings.
Community leaders who received the training sessions suggested some other topics to include them in this training, such as teaching kids how to eat healthy food. In addition, some of these participants asked the trainers to create a telegram channel and invite all the participants to the channel where they can discuss more their questions and remaining topics.
parents highly support their child’s emotional, social, and cognitive development which leads to self-esteem, and overall well-being.
While receiving the positive parenting trainings, the parents promised to prevent other parents from issues such as aggression, defiance, or disobedience towards their children.
One of the key-focuses of the mental health program is to improve the level of community support for mental health issues. Over the reporting period, we have seen positive signs of community support in child issues, family relationship and behavior with children. Some examples are:
Children issues were discussed in monthly Shura meetings. This shows children is a priority for the Shura members.
Religious leaders spoke about mental health and the role of communities to support parents to take café of children in a more appropriate ways.
Shura members conducted public awareness for 1,240 community members and discussed about the children.
8 schools allocated time for discussion on child development topics in their schools and 69 teachers who got the training spoken the for student and their parents.
Training in 2023:
79 parents (38 men and 41 women) trained
81 Community Leaders and Mullahs (35 men and 41 women)
