2014 is the year when the ICDP developments started in Nepal and the ICDP activities have been steadily expanding since then; ICDP is still active in Nepal.
2025: ICDP activities by Save the Children Nepal, Update by ICDP trainer, Gopal Nepali:
Save the Children (SC) introduced ICDP parenting education as an additional component to the cash transfer programme, which has yielded positive results. Significant improvements have been observed in caregiving practices among parents and caregivers. The programme has strengthened parent-child bonding and contributed to better child nutrition, aligning with the primary goal of the child grant. SC is currently implementing the Child-Sensitive Social Protection (CSSP) project in four districts of Nepal. Local governments are matching funds to collaboratively run the parenting programme. In 2025, local governments allocated budgets through their own systems, demonstrating a commitment to ensuring the program’s sustainability.
During 2025, the ICDP team at SC Nepal has been using the video specifically made about the 8 guidelines for good interaction and other key topics of the ICDP programme as support material during and after the delivery of the ICDP programme to families. Link to this video: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hLdqAKvXjBdVf587oWAJR3yf05yexzL The video has proven to be very helpful. Women who had taken part in the sessions made relevant references to the content of the videos, and they said that the video was useful as it reminded them to practice the ICDP guidelines.
Summary of activities in 2025:
- Save the Children values evidence-based approaches; therefore, in the third phase of the project (2022–2025), a longitudinal study was conducted. Data analysis and report preparation were carried out by professionals from Harvard University who had developed Caregiver Reported Early Development Index (CREDI) along with the caregiver’s engagements with child and nutrition. The study revealed significant differences in the caregiving practices of parents and caregivers. https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/final-evaluation-of-the-child-grant-plus-parenting-programme-in-nepal-2025, Moreover, an economic evaluation was conducted to present the costing aspects of the parenting programme. This analysis will be helpful for the development organizations and the government, providing them with a clear understanding of the programme’s cost structure.
- In 2025, another project was launched called “Little Steps, Bright Futures.” This project also incorporates ICDP components and focuses on the child grant plus approach. Preparatory activities are underway, and 20 community-level facilitators are being formed. The local government has already selected individuals for ICDP training. The second and third round of training were completed by the end of November. Additionally, the local government has allocated funds for the facilitators. The project aims to provide parenting education to more than 4,000 parents and caregivers.
- In 2025, a total of 2,509 parents and caregivers (1,330 male and 1,179 female) participated in the parenting sessions and graduated. The local government has been allocating a budget for the programme. In this regard, 64 new parenting facilitators were developed in 2025, and they will continue running parenting sessions even after the project phases out.
- The project has compiled 90 case stories of parents and caregivers, showcasing how they applied ICDP and the changes they observed in their children. Ten case stories were developed by each local government. Currently, local governments have also published these stories on their own digital platforms, such as Facebook and their official websites.
Videos prepared by Save the Children for parents attending ICDP courses – as reinforcement to in-person sessions
Report on activities in 2023 by ECEC
Report on activities in 2023 by Save the Children
Report on Save the Children activities in 2022
Save the Children compilation of stories from Nepal
REPORT BY SAVE THE CHILDREN 2020
Early developments:
International Child Development Programme (ICDP), Early Childhood Education Centre (ECEC) and HimalPartner (HP) have established cooperation and have started working on piloting ICDP in Nepal. The project aims to increase the psycho-social wellbeing of children in Nepal through improved parent – child communication.
In recent years Nepal has gone through a civil war (1996-2006) in which 15 000 adults and 475 children lost their lives, leaving many widows, orphans and broken families. In Nepal out of every 100 children, 86 live in villages, 48 are malnourished, 40 belong to extremely poor famililies, 80 are admitted to school but only 51 complete primary levels, 41% of the population are children below 16 years. (www.ncn.org.np)
In Nepal there is generally a low level of understanding about the psychosocial needs of children due to lack of education and awareness. This has led to alcohol and drug abuse, rise in crime,school drop outs, human trafficking and mental health problems, includidng depression and suicide among the adolescents and even younger children. Encouraging parents to bring up their children in a warm and loving environment and making parents aware of the importance of their role for the healthy psychosocial development of their children, could in the long run reduce the above mentioned problems among young people. This in turn could ultimately have a positive influence on the country’s development.
The project will test the ICDP concept for Nepali context during 2014 and 2015. The pilot will serve as a baseline for the application for a follow up three year programme – the intention is to expand the ICDP training between 2015 and 2017. The second period is crucial for securing sustainability of the project, by creating a team of Nepali trainers capable of spreading the ICDP methodology to new groups of facilitators.
HimalPartner is a mission organization based in Norway with experience in Nepal since 1954 in the areas of health, education and industrial development sectors. ICDP is providing training for a local team, whereas the HimalPartner is working to secure external grants for the project through Digni and other funding bodies. ECEC is the local organization with the intention of becoming the leading organization for ICDP training in Nepal. ECEC has been working in the area of early childhood development and education in Nepal since 2001. Although Teacher Training is ECEC’s core business, parent education is also very much part of ECEC’s services. The approach is that only if all the people who are directly involved with the children (parents teachers, caretakers, school leaders and other stake holders) understand the basic needs of children, will a child be able to grow up in a well-balanced, holistic way.
After the ICDP training has been completed, ECEC intend to train new teams working in the area of parenthood/children’s education. One of these will be Education Horizon Nepal (EHN), also supported by HimalPartner, which hires technical support from ECEC. Their project is in Dhading and Parent Education is an important part of their work . ECEC is also planning to continue to work with Save the Children, Unicef , UMN and other organizations in order to spread ICDP to different areas of Nepal.
So far there have been three ICDP training workshops that took place at the ECEC premises. In February 2015, the first group of 16 facilitators celebrated receiving their ICDP diplomas – see photos on ICDP Nepal facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/ICDP-NEPAL-725363997585362/