On June 28th, 2021, a coalition of partners launched a Call to Action urging for increased investment and scale-up of evidence-based initiatives to support caregivers. These partners, which include UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), Partnership for lifelong Health (PLH), the Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN), and the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, are urging organizations of all types to take part in this call, including governments, global partnerships, multi- and bi-lateral agencies, political bodies, funders, international non-governmental organizations, faith-based organizations, the business sector, academia, civil society organizations, networks, and advocates.
Why now?
With the spread of COVID-19, parents and caregivers are experiencing unprecedented challenges, with children at great risk of not reaching their full potential. Now, more than ever, parents and caregivers have a pivotal role to play at the front lines of protecting their children from stress and promoting their development, health, and well-being. The pandemic has brought to the forefront the critical role of parenting, as well as the tremendous influence the home environment has on children’s lives.
The evidence is clear: parents and the environment at home are central pillars in supporting children’s health and development. The quality of parenting practices is a key determinant of every child’s ability to develop their cognitive, emotional, and social potential and resilience against adversity.
What can we do?
Before COVID-19, at least 250 million young children were already at risk of not reaching their full potential. Now, UNICEF estimates that more than one billion children are facing that risk due to the increased isolation from school closures, the financial hardship of families, and the disruption of child protection, health, education, and other services because of the pandemic. The cost of inaction in
support of parents will have long-term impacts on future human capital – and because of that, we must act now.
This unprecedented global crisis calls for an agile, coordinated, and unified global effort on behalf of ALL parents and caregivers, especially the most vulnerable. We must work collectively to innovate, scale-up, generate evidence, and advocate for initiatives that support parents and caregivers. Join us and grow the global movement in support of parents to secure a more resilient and promising future.
Collective Action Goals:
- Protect children and adolescents, and support families to cope with the multiple stressors, including those resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Enable parents to nurture their children’s development across the life course, in the context of reduced childrelated services and increased parental responsibilities.
- Build the foundation for mainstreaming the uptake and implementation of evidence-based parent and caregiver support initiatives in all countries.
We Call For Collective Actions Across Four Pillars:
- SCALE: Invest in proven, cost-effective, and contextualized parenting interventions while building national capacity to sustain delivery of the services.
- INNOVATE: Design new digital and hybrid approaches that leverage technology to lower costs, increase uptake and reach underserved populations; adapting and improving interventions to enable efficient scale-up.
- GENERATE EVIDENCE: Test innovations and existing interventions through real-world trials, optimization studies on core components, and implementation research across contexts at scale.
- ADVOCATE: Invest in advocacy for the uptake of parenting interventions through policy advocacy and public and private financing.
Organizations
Who have Joined the Call:
(Updated frequently)
Individuals
Who have Joined the Call:
(Updated frequently)
Jamie Lachman
Senior Research Officer
Department of Global Health and Population
University of Oxford
Akira Shibanuma
Lecturer
The University of Tokyo
Yin Minn Latt
Country Representative
Terre des hommes Italia
Ramadhan Kirunda
Research and Technical Advisor
Impact and Innovations Development Centre
Angel Belle Dy
Physician
The Growing Brain PH
Alessandra Prioreschi
Researcher
The University of the Witwatersrand
Cassia Carvalho
Country Engagement Officer
End Violence
Carmen Paterson-Payne
Provincial Coordinator
Nobody’s Perfect Manitoba- Youville Centre
Dayana Joosapillai
Excellency Executive
Sharjah Child
Hong Huay Lim
Board Chair
CaringSG Ltd
Fiona Burtt
Senior Technical Advisor
Mothers2Mothers
Ilona Tamutiene
Professor
Vytautas Magnus University
Enkhtuya Sukhbaatar
Head
Tom Ah Egch
Mirza Adil Beig
District Project Assistant Capacity Building
Aga Khan Foundation
Waziri Mapunda
Senior Program Manager, ECD
BRAC Enterprises Tanzania Limited
Melek Er
ECD Director
Atılım University
Sofia Rebehy
Early Childhood Program Coordinator
United Way Brasil
Stella Gitia
Technical Officer
LCVT Health
Yaya Togo
PhD Student, Researcher
INSP & DERSP/FMOS
Veda Corriette George
Early Childhood Coordinator
Ministry of Education, Human Resource Planning,
Vocational Training and National Excellence
Anjoo Bhatnagar
Pediatrician in charge of ECD and ECE
Saran Ashram Hospital Dayalbagh Agra India
Sinisa Baljo
National Programme Development Director
SOS Children’s Villages Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bianca Abeygoonawar
Child Development & Child Protection Expert
Freelance Service
Eve Sullivan
Founder & Director
Parents Forum
Marta Figueiredo
OTR/L, PGDip, EI/SI, NBCT, SMS, Prof. Doc.
LifePrint- Terapia Ocupacional Pediatrica
Especializada
Almaz Ismayil
Independent Consultant
Vuyiswa Ncontsa
CEO
BRIDGE Innovation in Learning
Mary Aguadera
MD
NCH
Mable Sichali
Community Development and Social Justice Secretary
The United Church of Zambia
Sabilah Eboo Alwani
Doctoral Researcher
University of Cambridge
Nurper Ulkue
Professor
Uskudar University
Asma Hidri
ECD Director
Ministry of Childhood
Sylvia Mwangi
Education Practitioner
Tushiya Consult
Report