Regional Multi-Sectoral Meeting to Promote Nurturing Care for Early Childhood Development

Overview

WHO-SEARO had prepared a Strategic Framework - Role of the Health Sector in Promoting Early Childhood Development in 2011 in collaboration with UNICEF to facilitate programme implementation in South-East Asia Region (SEAR) countries. Since then, Member States have been progressively strengthening implementation of multiple interventions in relevant sectors that contribute to ECD although not necessarily with a comprehensive and coordinated multi-sectoral approach. Following the launch of the Nurturing Care Framework in 2018, there was a need to take stock and re-align efforts across the region. With this objective, WHOSEARO undertook in 2019 a rapid assessment of national level preparedness of multi-sectoral implementation of nurturing care for ECD in seven SEAR countries. For this, WHO-SEARO prepared a comprehensive tool for national level assessment covering all five components of nurturing care framework with inputs from UNICEF and other partners. 

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic the in-person workshop planned for 2020, had to be postponed to 2021 and re-designed as a virtual workshop in collaboration with UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (UNICEF-ROSA) and UNICEF Regional Office for East Asia and Pacific (UNICEF-EAPRO). The virtual South-East Asia multi-sectoral meeting was organized to strengthen national programmes for nurturing care for ECD with the end-goal of contributing to the survival and development of children. The countries that participated in the meeting were – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor Leste from WHO-SEA Region and Afghanistan and Pakistan from UNICEF-ROSA region.