Ensuring the Best Start in Life for Children: The Power of Parenting
Regional Conference on Early Childhood Development and Parenting
- Srpski
- English
The Regional Conference on Early Childhood Development and Parenting in Serbia will gather subregional community of Early Childhood Development and Parenting Support champions to rethink strategies catalysing positive outcomes for children and their families during the critical early years. The conference will also be an opportunity to review the results achieved so far, five years after the launch of the intersectoral Call to Action for Early Childhood Development in Serbia, and to define the necessary actions in terms of supporting the optimal development of every child.
The Conference is jointly organised by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia and UNICEF Serbia country office as a host country, with the support of UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, in cooperation with the government partners on the Early Childhood Development Agenda.
The first years of life, period of endless opportunities, determines the trajectory of child’s development and wellbeing. For children to thrive and fulfil their potential, they require nurturing care provided by parents and caregivers while relying on support systems within their environment. Children who grow up in a warm and stimulating environment with positive childhood experiences have better physical and mental health, better outcomes in school, stronger social abilities and increased chances for success and prosperity.
Growing evidence underscores the crucial role of quality parenting in nurturing children's well-being and fostering their emotional and social skills, while also serving as a buffer strategy for adverse experiences and ultimately contributing to the development of resilient communities.
Parents in Serbia, similarly as in the entire region, need the whole system support responding to inequalities, parental and child development needs and to preventing violence against children in a timely manner. Looking at real life scenarios, Europe and Central Asia is home to around 21 million young children under five, who grow and develop experiencing wide disparities in nurturing care. 25% of young children do not receive adequate early stimulation and responsive care at home; 15% of fathers versus 54% of mothers provide early stimulation and responsive care at home; only 38% of young children have access to at least three books and 73% to two or more playthings at home; 53% of young children not accessing pre-primary education; 55% of children aged 1 to 4 are regularly violently disciplined by caregivers; 1 million children under 5 experience inadequate supervision.
Throughout the region, a diverse range of evidence-based interventions aimed at strengthening systems are being implemented to tackle enduring inequalities, to ensure that caregivers rely on orbits of support, have resources, skills and time to cope with parental challenges.
During the conference, the Early Childhood Development and Parenting Support Community aims to collectively envision system strengthening initiatives centred around parenting support programs, policy formulation, cross-sectoral coordination, and applying social and behaviour change approaches.
The Conference will be an occasion to:
- Showcase success strategies enabling positive change from across the sub-region
- Reach the shared vision on Early Childhood Development and Parenting - related system strengthening by following a comprehensive guide for enhancing parental practices and child development (Parenting Support Framework)
- Strengthen regional networks and commitments for effective parenting and child development interventions
- Reaffirm national commitment for ECD agenda across sectors in Serbia, in occasion of the fifth anniversary of signing the cross-sectoral Call for Action for Early Childhood Development.
Three keywords will guide the subregional forum on fostering enabling environment for optimal child development: Policy, Practice and Partnerships (the 3Ps).
The Day One will open space for high-level cross-country insights on policy change, institutional building and enabling environment through multilevel coordination, while the Day Two will foster cross-country exchange of evidence, innovation in practice, strategies related to workforce empowerment and innovation of practice.
Our shared mission is to harness the strengths of caregivers and their environment to drive positive outcomes for children during their formative years. Through collaborative endeavors improving policies, practice, partnerships, through timely, well-coordinated, integrated actions it is time to empower parents and nurture resilient communities where every child thrives.
See both Conference Days on
UNICEF Serbia YouTube Channel
Day One
Day Two
Key Outcome of the Conference
The key outcome of the Regional Conference on Early Childhood Development and Parenting "The Power of Parenting" which took place on June 25-26 in Belgrade, was the launch of the "Belgrade Early Years Call to Action".
This document offers a comprehensive roadmap for advancing early childhood development across Europe and Central Asia. It outlines 12 essential commitments that emphasize the need for sustained focus and cross-sectoral coordination among national ministries, regional partners and networks.
Explore the Belgrade Early Years Call to Action and find out how you can contribute to this crucial effort.
Conference Participants and Keynote Speakers
The conference will feature a myriad of experts from the fields of Early Childhood Development and Parenting from the region and the world alike. Delegations from 18 countries and territories in the ECA Region, as well as from the UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Office and Serbia CO. Experts from 5 other countries including the United States, Belgium, Ireland, France, Denmark will also be participating.
See the list of Keynote Speakers below, in alphabetical order:
Dr. Ivelina Borisova from Bulgaria is UNICEF’s Early Childhood Development Advisor (ECD) for the ECA Region. She leads the regional strategy and program priorities on early childhood development and early care and education across the region. Prior to this, Ms. Borisova was UNICEF’s global lead in the area of early childhood education and care (ECEC), responsible for global strategy development and its implementation across regions in the area of ECEC, aimed at achieving equitable access to quality pre-primary education by 2030. Prior to joining UNICEF, Ms Borisova served as the Director of Impact and Innovations for Early Years at Save the Children. She is a national of Bulgaria and she holds a Doctorate in Human Development and Education from the Harvard University.
James Cairns is Senior Director for Strategic Engagements and Organizational Learning at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. He leads Center-wide efforts focused on understanding the early childhood ecosystem and the Center’s role in it, including developing strategic collaborations and partnerships, and leading efforts to understand and measure the impact of the Center’s work. He also continues to provide strategic guidance to the Center’s international portfolio and partnerships. Prior to joining the Center, James served as the Director of Programs at the World Conference of Religions for Peace, and as Director of the Advocacy and Action for Children Program. He holds master’s degrees in international relations and theology from Yale University and a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard University.
Liana Ghent is Director of ISSA, the Early Childhood network for Europe and Central Asia. With more than 30 years of leadership experience, she has specialized in areas of network-development, catalyzing system change, mobilizing movements, partnership-building and sustainability in the non-profit sector. Her career before ISSA, included a senior position in the Higher Education Support Program of Open Society Foundations and serving as Co-President of the Civic Education Project (CEP), an organization working to reform higher education in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Currently, she is a member of the Executive Leadership Council of the Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN) and WHO's Advisory Group for the Nurturing Care Framework.
Pamela Kapetanovic-Goluza has graduated at the Medical Faculty in Zagreb (Croatia) in 2000. She became a Specialist of Pediatrics in 2006 and Family Medicine Specialist in 2008. She is a head of Pediatric Department of Primary health Care Center Vitez since 2010. Between 2006 and 2013 she acted as Specialist of Pediatrics at the Pediatric and Neonatology Department at the Hospital Nova Bila. Completed all levels of Program on Continuing Professional Education in the Area of Early Detection, Diagnostics, and Intervention in FBIH organized by UNICEF, licensed trainer of Program on Continuing Professional Education in the Area of Early Detection, Diagnostics, and Intervention. Member of all Working Groups in charge for development of legislative framework for Early Childhood Development in Federation BiH.
Aaron Lee Morris is a Senior Partnerships Specialist at the LEGO Foundation, overseeing a range of global partnerships focused on utilizing play to support the learning and development of children, primarily in early childhood care and education settings, and within communities around the world. Prior to that, he was the Director of Family and Community Learning at PBS KIDS where he managed collaborative efforts that utilized PBS KIDS’ media properties to create playful learning experiences for children, families, and educators across the US. An alumnus of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Aaron holds an Ed.M. in Technology, Innovation, and Education.
Margareta Madjeric is the State Secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy. She has held the position of the State Secretary in the ministry responsible for social welfare for several years, and in this mandate, she oversees social policy aimed at protecting and promoting the rights of children and victims of violence. She is the President of the Council for Children, which was established for the purpose of efficient implementation of the CRC and is a member of the Working Group for the preparation of the National Action Plan for the implementation of the United Nations Security Council resolution on Women, Peace and Security for the period from 2019 to 2023. She is the deputy president of the National Team for the suppression and fight against violence against women and domestic violence.
Joanne McGarry, is working as Assistant Principal in the Parenting Support Policy Unit in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth. Joanne is leading on the implementation of Supporting Parents; The National Model of Parenting Support Services. Implementation of the model, will see progress made on many actions to strengthen parents’ knowledge, confidence and skills to help achieve the best outcomes for children. Before joining the Department, Joanne worked for the Irish NGO Trócaire.
Ivana Mihić PhD is associate professor at the University of Novi Sad and licenced systemic family therapist working with families of young children. She is a trainer and supervisor of parent support and home visitation programs in Centre for early childhood development and family relations “Harmonija” in Novi Sad. Ivana works with UNICEF Serbia country office in the area of early childhood development (as a researcher, consultant and trainer for home visiting nurses, ECEC stuff, child health care professionals) and co-authors several evidence based parenting and ECD support programs.
Dilek OKKALI ŞANALMIŞ graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of Labor Economics and Industrial Relations in 1999 and continues her master's studies. She started her career in the working life and employment sector in 2001 at the State Planning Organization, which was later incorporated into the newly established Ministry of Development and is today known as the Presidency of Strategy and Budget. She has worked in different areas of social policy over the years and has been working on Child and Youth policies for nearly 15 years.
Benjamin Perks is the Head of Campaigns and Advocacy in the Division of Global Communications and Advocacy at UNICEF. He leads public and policy advocacy on the development and protection of children. He previously served in human rights diplomacy roles as the UNICEF Representative and UN RC ad interim to both the Republic of North Macedonia and the Republic of Montenegro where he advocated for reforms to fulfill international human rights commitments and realization of the SDG's. He has served in Georgia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, India and Albania. He coordinated the Back-to-School campaign in the Northern Afghanistan, and has led work on demobilization of child solders, deinstitutionalization of children in state care, addressing child poverty, pre-school expansion and disability inclusion.
Mr. Valentin Popescu holds a BA in physics, a master's degree in public administration and a doctorate in educational management. His professional experience in the field of education includes training courses on pedagogy in Sevres (France) and Madrid. Mr. Popescu has been a physics teacher and principal at high school, general school inspector of Braila County, the head of the control unit and general secretary of the Ministry of National Education, human resources director and general director for strategic management and public policies and for implementation of Educated Romania Project. Aside from his work in the Ministry of Education, Mr. Popescu teaches educational policies at Christian Dimitrie Cantemir University of Bucharest and has published several articles in the field of education sciences.
Dr. Nenad Rudić, psychiatrist is a former Head of the Day Hospital for preschool children with developmental difficulties at Institute for Mental Health, Belgrade. Member of the Founder and Executive Board of IDPA (International Developmental Pediatrics Association). Participated in various national programs aimed at improving the care for development of children on the level of Primary Health care, Developmental Counseling Centers and Home visiting services, especially in presence of psychosocial risks and serious developmental difficulties. Most programs were aimed at introducing and supporting working in partnership with parents within these services. Have close ongoing collaboration with parent organizations for children with autism spectrum disorders in Serbia.
Martino Serapioni is Research Programme Coordinator at COFACE. He coordinates research activities in the framework of the European Observatory on Family Policy. Prior to COFACE, he worked as researcher in comparative early childhood education and care policy at the G.M. Bertin Faculty of Education of the University of Bologna. He is a member of the European Commission Network of Experts on Social Aspects of Education and Training (NESET II).
Esra Yaman is head of Family Education and Counselling Department at Ministry of Family and Social Services in Türkiye. She studied psychology at Boğaziçi University and received master's degree in social/organizational psychology at Koç University. After her studies, she joined into the the ministry and she has been working with families, parents and social services staff. She has over 10 years' experience on parenting, premarital and marital training programs together with family and couple counseling services.