Cultivating political will and investment
A meeting with the First Lady, Ministers, Parliamentarians, partners and funders resulted in a commitment to develop a national multisectoral strategy for early childhood development.

Leadership in action
Within three years the Ministry of Health, alongside other sectors, developed a multisectoral approach to contextualize and operationalize the nurturing care agenda.

Ghana Health Service commits to rolling out the Nurturing Care Framework
Following a national stakeholders’ meeting in 2019, the Ghana Health Service has issued a Call to Action, calling upon other government agencies, donors, non-governmental actors and the media to significantly increase actions, investments, and attention to ECD in Ghana.

Scaling up nurturing care in Siaya County
In western Kenya, the Governor is leading the scale-up of policies, programmes and services in support of nurturing care. The First Lady oversees the Smart Start Siaya Campaign which promotes nurturing care through a systems-based approach. Follow the campaign: @NurturingCareKE

Advancing multisectoral collaboration
A high-level advocacy meeting elevated attention to early childhood development and resulted in a commitment to finalize the national multisectoral strategy for early childhood development.

Harnessing large scale funding
The Ministry of Health Nutrition Department has leveraged funding from the Global Financing Facility and World Bank to integrate early learning and responsive caregiving into the national nutrition package.

Towards the development of an integrated early childhood development policy and strategy
Leveraging key moments, employing partcipatory approaches to policy development, using evidence to inform decisions, and securing high level committment of leadership have kept ECD high on the Government of Rwanda’s agenda for two decades.

‘Global Child Thrive Act’ introduced in U.S. Senate
The Act directs the U.S. administration to advance policies and programmes that advance early childhood development internationally.

Orientation for Members of Parliament
A virtual advocacy meeting for 22 parliamentarians explored the potential roles that lawmakers can play to advance the nurturing care agenda.

‘Criança Feliz’ (‘Happy Child’) programme
Considered the world’s biggest ECD experiment, ‘Criança Feliz’ was instituted in 2016, through a presidential decree, to promote comprehensive development of children in their early years. Watch two videos about the program here.

Parenting programme
The Ministry of Education together with other ministries and partners has developed a parenting programme encompassing different aspects that contribute to a good start in life, including immunization and healthcare, early education and play, positive parenting without use of violence, and good hygiene and sanitation.

Side-by-side campaign promotes nurturing care
The Department of Health is leading a national campaign known as Side-by-Side to ensure that all children under 5 receive the nurturing care they need to develop to the best of their abilities. View the campaign website here.

Holistic parenting model
The holistic parenting model comprises of multisectoral integrated parenting clubs operating at commune and village levels.

“I play, I learn, I thrive” playful parenting campaign
The Government of the Republic of Zambia with support from UNICEF and the LEGO Foundation has launched a national campaign highlighting the benefits of play for Zambian children. The campaign is called “I play, I learn, I thrive.“

Building a new approach to nurturing care
The Government of Bulgaria, in partnership with UNICEF, has established a universal home visiting programme for all families.

Promoting nurturing care within the health sector
The Ghana Health Services has elevated attention to and services for children aged 0-3 years.

Nurturing care for refugee children and their families
In 2016, Refugee Trauma Initiative set up an Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) programme for refugee children aged 0–6 called Baytna, which means ‘our home’ in Arabic. View the website here.

A gateway to nurturing small and sick newborns
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare practices Family Participatory Care (FPC) involving families in the care of small and sick newborns throughout the hospitalization period.

Cooperation across health and social sectors
The home visiting programme has been refined to ensure families receive coordinated support from health professionals and social workers.

Pathways for integrating Care for Child Development
Multisectoral collaboration and capacity building at national and local levels led to more nurturing services, including among the national Growth and Development Check-ups Programme (CRED in Spanish).

Capitalizing on the strengths of the health system
Existing platforms are being leveraged to ensure all families receive the support they need. See how health facilities are involving families in the care of their pre-term babies here and here.

Brazilian Early Childhood Friendly Municipal Index (IMAPI)
A participatory decision-making process enabled creation of a set of nurturing care indicators at the muncipal level.