UNICEF in action
THE BEST START IN LIFE FOR EVERY CHILD
We push for an integrated approach to the early years –the only way to ensure the best start in life for a child. This approach looks at the “whole” child, from protection against violence and discrimination to the development of self-esteem and the desire to learn. It focuses on health care and nutrition for children and mothers, as well as the creation of a clean and safe environment for them. It strengthens bonds between parents and children and evaluates institutions and services for young children. We urge all governments to develop national policies on integrated early childhood approaches. Phone counselling for new parents in Serbia A UNICEF-backed phone counselling project in Belgrade reached 95% of families with new-borns in its first two years, receiving 110,000 and solving 88% of the questions asked. The project reduced the number of visits to primary health centres by up to 7%, connected parents with local health services and boosted the number of home visits by nurses from 70% to 95% of all newborns. The project is now expanding to reach other parts of the country, and the priority is to establish contact and follow-up with the families whose babies are thought to be particularly vulnerable. A UNICEF-supported survey of parents and professionals in Belarus in 2003 revealed that more than 60% of parents have problems educating their young children. More than 73% think that corporal punishment can be applied to children in certain circumstances and over 40% believe that obedience is more important than initiative. UNICEF is backing a variety of new approaches to ECD in Belarus, including better parenting initiatives to help parents raise their children in a nurturing environment that stimulates their development. More than 500 pre-school children in Belarus benefited from new-style pre-schools centred on communities in six areas in 2003. UNICEF supports the open model of pre-school, which aims to establish pre-schools as centres for the entire community, including parents. This project has now been underway in the selected regions for one year, and studies already show positive changes in parenting practices. The Prevention of Infant Abandonment and De-institutionalisation (PIAD) project in Georgia aims to prevent infant institutionalisation. PIAD’s Mother and Children Centre in Tbilisi houses new mothers who need support to bond with their babies and prepare for a future together. The Project has had success in getting infants out of institutions and into families, but these infants are quickly replaced by new arrivals. So PIAD goes further, pushing for family-based child welfare and protection policies, backed by effective adoption legislation, to prevent institutionalisation. PIAD is backed by UNICEF, the Ministries of Health, Education and Labour, UNFPA, Worldvision, Everychild and the IMF.
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