Say Yes, Spring 2002: Better Care
The Mothers’ Training Programme has been reconceptualised as the Family and Child Training Programme (FACT), focusing not only on the role of mothers but on all family members and carers of children under six years of age.
Photograph by Rana Mullan
© UNICEF Turkey 2002
Childcare and the social, intellectual and physical development of young children are the focus of most UNICEF programmes. Placing great emphasis on Early Childhood Care and Development (ECD), UNICEF has adopted lifelong development concepts in its programming.
FACT builds on the Mothers Training Programme (MTP) which aims to empower mothers in the better care of their children.
With the support of UNICEF, the Ministry of National Education (MONE) and Gazi University have been running the MTP in fifty-nine provinces of Turkey since 1993. Now the MTP has been reconceptualised as FACT and it will focus not only on the role of mothers but on all family members and carers of children under six years of age.
FACT aims to empower families with basic childcare practices and skills, using UNICEF’s networking strengths to encourage collaboration between sectors in ECD. Since childcare services are usually delivered on sectoral lines such as welfare, health, education, social protection and so forth, an inter-sectoral approach encourages partnerships between different agencies in order to avoid gaps in services and overlapping or duplication of work.
FACT maximises the use of resources and creates a synergy of efforts by adopting an holistic approach to childcare where the child is regarded as a whole being whose survival, growth, psychological and cognitive development are intertwined and interdependent.
Care of the child takes place within the context of the family, the community and the nation, and as such is influenced by a host of social, cultural, economic and political factors. Service providers must incorporate these overlapping and interdependent factors into their work.
The primary objective of FACT is to reach three million families by the year 2005 by using the integrated approach through existing programmes and services.
Partners include MONE, the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Social Services and Child Protection Agency (SHÇEK), the Ministry of Agriculture and Village Works (MOA), Turkish Television and Radio (TRT), the Universities, Trades Unions, the Military and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Key FACT messages developed by a group of leading experts selected mainly from the universities were reviewed by programme partners and participating institutions at a workshop in March. Since each sector has its own service delivery system, participants worked to identify and define areas which would best contribute to early childhood development in Turkey.
Rather than create a new programme and training models, the object was to adapt FACT across sectors with each participating group developing its own framework and/or outline to help adapt and implement the programme. The determination of partners to make a success of FACT was reflected in the achievements of the meeting:
- the completion of core messages of FACT which define the basic competencies that families should have for effective childcare practices;
- the development of relevant programme models with training components for each sector/NGO involved in ECD/FACT;
- the strategy for implementation of fact across sectors.
This national mobilisation is expected to result in priority being given to children in the early years of life. FACT will achieve this by equipping families with the skills necessary to ensure the best care practices for their children and to give the children of Turkey a head start in life.
Read more about the FACT in our Programmes section. The February, 2002 issue of Say Yes has more information about education programmes in Turkey.
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