Global Launch of the Caring for the Caregiver Package

Description

A growing body of evidence has shown that caregivers’ own mental health, and well-being impacts their ability to provide nurturing care. Preventive support for caregivers’ mental health is key to promoting optimal child development especially in resource-constrained settings where caregivers face multiple stressors with limited support.

To address this gap, UNICEF in collaboration with the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) and WHO, have developed the Caring for the Caregiver (CFC) package. The objective of CFC is to increase frontline workers’ capacity to provide adequate counselling and parenting support services. Using a family centered approach, the CFC intervention activities improve caregivers’ emotional well-being and their social support to enable nurturing care for improved child development outcomes. The package is gender-sensitive and accompanied by an adolescent supplement to address the unique challenges of adolescent caregivers.

With contributions from the LEGO Foundation, the CFC approach was co-created with country experts and stakeholders over a period of several years. The package materials have been through a series of technical peer reviews alongside testing, adaptation and validation in 6 countries. The evidence-based package is now ready for global roll-out.

Participants in this event joined UNICEF, WITS University and WHO to learn more about the Caring for the Caregiver package at the official global launch.

Speakers

• Erinna Dia
  Associate Director Early Childhood Development, UNICEF HQ
• Tamsen Rochat
  Professor of Psychology, The Manchester Metropolitan University
• Jill Popp
  Senior Research Specialist, The LEGO Foundation
• Stephanie Redinger
  Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Witwatersrand
• Neerja Chowdhary
  Technical Officer, Department of Mental Health, Brain Health and Substance Use, WHO HQ
• Elizabeth Lule
  Executive Director, Early Childhood Development Action Network
• Jennifer Groves
  Programme Manager, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, UNICEF HQ
• Mila Vukovic Jovanovic
  Early Childhood Development Manager, UNICEF Serbia
• Nada Elattar
  Early Childhood Development Manager, UNICEF Uganda
• Boniface Kakhobwe
  Early Childhood Development Specialist, UNICEF HQ
• Sheila Manji
  Early Childhood Development Specialist, Child Health and Development Unit, WHO HQ

Related links

• Caring for the Caregiver (CFC) package
• CFC Launch Slide Deck
• CFC Global Launch Recording (English)
• CFC Launch Recording (Arabic)
• CFC Launch Recording (French)
• CFC Launch Recording (Spanish)