UNICEF in Action
The joint project of the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Welfare, together with UNICEF, has been implemented in Georgia since 2003 and embodies elaboration of the national concept for Early Childhood Development. The education of parents on Early Childhood Development comprises an essential part of the project. The Programme aims at helping parents to develop adequate skills to care for their children. To this end, a number of educational print, audio and visual materials for parents and caregivers were developed. Five resource centres for parent education were established in the primary health care policlinics in four regions of Georgia, including rural areas. 250 primary health and pre-school specialists, providing information and counseling to 10,000 parents on Early Childhood Development were trained. In order to raise awareness on Early Childhood Development, 26 Television talk shows were developed and aired with nation-wide coverage. The talk show programme was successful, with wide-spread popularity, ranking second in a recent survey of popular television shows.
Quotes from mothers about the Television programmes: Lika Chkhaberidze, a mother of a six-month old child: “All of this is extremely interesting, as the programme provides comprehensive information on childhood development. Today, for instance, I learned what toys are to be used at different ages and how the mother should play with her child to encourage mental development. All themes covered in earlier programmes were equally interesting. Unfortunately, I was not able to watch all of them and requested the corresponding manual published for parents so I could read about things I could not follow on Television.” Nino Nanikashvili, a mother of a two-year old girl: “I received comprehensive information about the environment a child needs in order to develop their potential. I learned how to play with my child, how to educate her and how to read fairy tales to her. All of this is extremely important for the child. I was delighted to follow and take part in those dialogues.” Liana Sikharulidze, a mother of a month-and-a-half old boy: “I like this Programme a lot. I will consider many of the things I learned here. I did not follow these programmes from the beginning as I only heard about them later from other parents, but have not missed a single one since I started watching them. I am thankful to everyone who gave us an opportunity to receive this useful information in such an informative and entertaining way.” In July-August 2005 Marketing Communications conducted an evaluation of the TV programmes. The Television programme “First Step” was estimated very positively. It was marked that this programme was very useful for young mothers in order to get aware of the child rearing issues. Most of the respondents stressed the importance of keeping such a programme in future as it has assisted them by providing valuable information, breaking old stereotypes and introducing new methods of child care.
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