Supporting the most vulnerable children and families: Concrete - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Supporting the most vulnerable children and families:

Concrete examples of responses to the COVID-19 crisis

19 May 2020 | 12.30 CEST

Panelists and Moderators

Panelists: Sara Shokry - Program Officer, Associazione 21 luglio (Italy) Olena Hloba, ECEC Education Expert, Ukrainian Step by Step Foundation (Ukraine)

• Dr. Ceren Gueven-Gueres –

Coordination of Programs, UNICEF Germany (Germany) Lieve De Bosscher - Director of Early Childhood Unit, City of Ghent (Belgium) Moderators: Aljosa Rudas – Program Officer, ISSA (the Netherlands) Francesca Colombo – Senior Program Officer, ISSA (the Netherlands)

Facebook: ISSAECD Twitter: ISSA_ECD Website: www.issa.nl

Topics

Major challenges:

• How are we reaching out to the most

vulnerable children and families?

• Why assessing the needs is so important in

providing support? Effective approaches:

• What needs to be done to secure the

effectiveness of different interventions?

• Why joining efforts in times of emergencies

is so crucial?

• On whose agenda should be the needs of

vulnerable children and families? Remaining challenges:

• How the world will look like after the

COVID-19 pandemic and what can we expect?

Major challenges and effective approaches – the role of international agencies, grassroots

• rganizations and city

governments.

Associazione 21 luglio is a non-profit

• rganisation that

supports groups and individuals in condition

• f extreme segregation

and discrimination, protecting their rights and promoting children’s well-being

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Italy: the country of camps

Life expectancy in a camp is 10 years lower than that

• f the rest of the population

COVID-19: What now?

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As soon as the lockdown was declared by the Prime Minister, Associazione 21 luglio conducted a research to monitor the condition of Roma communities living in housing emergency in Rome

9

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Advocacy action Fundraising #IoRestoNelCampo #IStayCamp

Our response

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Immediate relief to the most vulnerable families with children aged 0-3

Our response

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Supporting children and schools through:

 Mediation  Tutoring  “Help desk”  Remodeling of didactic contents

and methods

 Providing tablets and data

Our response

Set of activities designed for children and parents:

 Long distance film

forum

 Fairy tales over

the phone

 WhatsApp groups

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 Zoom meetings  Pshycomotor/recreational activities  Assistance to get economic support  Promotion of mutual aid

UKRAINIAN STEP BY STEP FOUNDATION

Supporting the most vulnerable children and families

Olena Hloba, Ukraine

UKRAINIAN STEP BY STEP FOUNDATION

 Operating since 2001  Key focus on making education system more inclusive through

both direct work with teachers, children and parents and building better policies

 Works in close partnership with a number of international

• rganizations such as ISSA,UNICEF, International Renaissance

Foundation, OSF etc.

MAJOR CHALLENGES DURING COVID-19

 All educational institutions closed  No online support tools offered to children and parents  Lack of technical and pedagogical skills as well as institutional

capacity to provide assistance and services under new conditions

 Poor communication/relations between educational

institutions/teachers/specialists and parents

SOLUTIONS

Work in two dimensions

 Dimension 1. Support educational institutions (teachers, administration, specialists)

• Online consultations
• Webinars
• Technical training in using online tools

 Dimension 2. Support the parents

• Targeted online sessions by relevant specialists (speech therapists, psychologists etc.) –

jointly with UNICEF

• Regular newsletters/materials for parents distributed via messengers/social media
• Technical training in using online tools
• Facilitation of parent networks and groups via messengers/social media

Joint webinars with UNICEF

UNICEF

MATERIALS FOR PRE-SCHOOLERS



MATERIALS FOR PRE-SCHOOLERS

EXAMPLE OF GOOD PRACTICE

Lysychansk pre-school institution #8 (Svitliachok) -Luhanska oblast

• Majority of children moved from zone affected by military conflict (as fact – often

need psychological support)

• Cooperation with USSF since 2017 (UNICEF project)
• Focus on children well-being and parents supporting (face-to-face activities)

THE STEPS WE MADE

1) Staff went through a series of trainings on organisation of distance learning (online

tools, platforms, programmes). USSF assisted in instruments choice and conducting of trainings 2) Teachers designed own web-site https://dssvitl.wixsite.com/svetlachok/ne-sumuj-na-karantini 3) USSF helped with development of instructions for parents (materials, recommendations) 4) Teachers facilitated close communication between children/parents and their peers. USSF moderated discussion of ideas and good practices with other teachers and specialists

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https://dssvitl.wixsite.com/ svetlachok/ ne-sumuj-na-karantini

UKRAINIAN STEP BY STEP FOUNDATION

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UNICEF

Supporting the most vulnerable children and families Concrete examples of responses to the COVID-19 crisis

• Dr. Ceren Güven Güres

German National Committee for UNICEF ISSA Webinar 19.05.2020

Overwiew of the Situation

UNICEF

What are the major challenges? Identified Gaps?

• Lack of channels to reach out the most vulnerable children
• Lack of evidence-based data
• No attention on child participation & family friendly policies

by government

• Gaps in child protection measures
• Access to education (pre- school, primary etc.)
• Risk of child poverty (due to rise in unemployment rate)
• Lack of prioritization of MHPSS for children and young

people

• No focus on the situation of refugee and migrant children

UNICEF

Global UNICEF Agenda for Action

Keep children healthy Reach vulnerable children with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) Keep children learning Support families to cover their needs and care for their children Protect children from violence, exploitation and abuse Take targeted actions to protect refugee, migrant and internally displaced children and children in conflict –affected and humanitarian settings

1 2 3 4 5 6

UNICEF

What are the major challenges of being a refugee/migrant children at a refugee accommodation during Covid-19 pandemic?

No School & No WiFi (in many cases) No Playground No Privacy (Constructional limitations – Housing) No Activities (offered by volunteers) Uncertainty with Asylum Applications Ramadan No Evidence- based Data Limited or No social – legal counselling

UNICEF

Effective Approaches: LESS is MORE How to Prioritize?

Rapid Needs Assessment with/through our former contacts:

• Ministry of Interior, Refugee Reception Centers, Service

providers for refugee and migrant children

• Ministry of Education, schools, teachers and parents
• Various Media Channels

UNICEF

• Keep children learning (area of action #3)

Gathering all available learning materials and avail them for teachers, students, parents https://www.unicef.de/informieren/schulen/unterrichtsmaterial/-/zuhause-lernen/214626

What to Prioritize?

UNICEF

• Take targeted actions to protect refugee, migrant and internally

displaced children (area of action # 5)

Facilitate in-kind donation of toys, games and learning materials to selected refugee centers that have reported acute need in two federal states (Baden- Wuerttemberg & Bavaria) with support of IKEA (110.000€).

What to Prioritize?

UNICEF

• Inform and support families to cover their needs and care

for their children (areas of action #1, #4, #5)

• Disseminate ´Better Parenting Tips during Covid-19 Times´

(WHO, UNICEF, USAID etc. publication)

• Photo documentation of ´What does it mean for a child to live in a

refugee accommodation center during COVID-19 times?´ (in progress)

WHAT to PRIORITIZE? (cont´d)

19 May 2020

Supporting the most vulnerable children and families

A high priority on the agenda of immediate response to the COVID-19 crisis

Lieve De Bosscher, Director, Early Childhood Unit, City of Ghent, Belgium

CHALLENGE 1

A safe environment and communication

For children

contact bubbles

For parents

transparent communication and information to take away fear

For staff

daily Q&A

CHALLENGE 2

Reaching vulnerable families

NORMAL SITUATION Social mix 40% vulnerable families  Retrain staff Outreach to maintain warm contacts with families  Existing cooperation with social workers to enrol vulnerable families into childcare COVID period Attendance dropped to minus 10% but staff is available

CHALLENGE 3

Organise integrated services

Coordinated and organized childcare in the whole city

Unique wider action radius made a higher level

• f inclusion possible

Existing cooperation with social workers enabled us to enroll a big number of children in very vulnerable situations Offer childcare for free was a measure taken by higher authorities - but in any case, we have a system of affordability within our childcare

Effective approaches

Case MeloRenoPee A collaboration between IBO Melopee and refugee center Reno during the Easter Break

• Childcare during the two

week Easter Break

• For 20 children from refugee

families currently living at Reno

• Between 5 and 12 years old
• Recently arrived in Ghent,

coming from Afghanistan, El Salvador, Eritrea, Somalia, Iraq, Syria, Palestine

A challenging context

• ° Covid-19 pandemic: special measures

3 contact bubbles No access for parents in the building

• ° Into the new: first introduction for

families to childcare, a new location and a new team of childcare workers

• ° Many different native languages

° A background of potentially traumatic experiences

3 contact bubbles

• Ages mixed
• Brothers and sisters together

in a contact bubble

• Children showed us the

importance of friendships

No access for parents

• In contrast to how we normally work
• Daily talks with parents outside
• Pedagogical documentation as a tool to

build trust

Into the new: first introduction to childcare, a new location and a new team

• A close cooperation with refugee center

Reno

• Breaking the ice with a warm welcome
• Outreach: picking up families, accompany

them to the new location (and have nice chat during the walk)

• A big focus on getting to know each other

and the children feeling secure

Many different native languages

• Respect for the native language
• Childcare by Dutch-speaking

childcare workers

A background of potentially traumatic experiences

• Well-being and feeling secure as priority
• Case discussion and evaluation
• n a daily basis
• A close cooperation with Reno for further

follow up

Unexpected plus results

• Easy transition from childcare to

school was made possible

• Speaking and understanding

Dutch had improved a lot

• Base for a structural

cooperation with refugee center Reno

Remaining challenges, priorities, and next steps forward

Remaining challenges

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Growth of inequalities Fragility of internal forms of mutual aid Access to safe housing Fear and discrimination Juridical invisibility of unemployed non- Italian citizens Donors

Click here to watch our video

REMAINING CHALLENGES

• 1. Budgetary constraints due to economic effects of pandemic likely to negatively

affect services and support to vulnerable families

• 2. T

echnology access and skills need further improvement

• 3. Many aspects require face to face format
• 4. T

eacher skills and institutional capacity still remain insufficient

• 5. Parents will continue to feel economic and personal stress from pandemic
• 6. Need for more systemic research on how online/ICT can be used to help the

most vulnerable children and families

UNICEF

• Sound policies to ensure meaningful participation of refugee and migrant children for

preparedness, prevention and response to COVID-19

• Support and advocate for safer housing conditions to allow for social distancing
• Ensured continued learning also for the most vulnerable groups
• Minimize the economic impacts -which fuels poverty- by extending social protection

policies

Remaining Challenges: A Long Marathon to run

Remaning challenges

What about ECEC as a warm second home? What about the open doors? What about connecting with the neighbourhood? What about connection between parents? What about connection between children?

Safety as the first priority in the new normal

Working parents who are out of work for a long time at risk Already higher rates of poverty For example, in Ghent, over 80% more families ask for social aid

A new group of vulnerable families

Extra staff efforts demanded to create the new normal

• New challenges reinforced: continuing

professional training, participation and intervision

Kies 'Invoegen › Koptekst en voettekst' deze voettekst aan te passen.

Digital as the new normal

• … but not apt to ECEC

ECEC are the heroes of today…

• … but what about the remuneration tomorrow?

“Thank you for all your questions!”

“If we all join forces today to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable young children and their families, we will build a more inclusive and equitable society tomorrow!”

THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING!

Let’s continue the conversation… Facebook: ISSAECD Twitter: ISSA_ECD Website: www.issa.nl Please send questions or comments about the webinar content to arudas@issa.nl or fcolombo@issa.nl