19 May 2020 | 12.30 CEST Supporting the most vulnerable children and families: Concrete examples of responses to the COVID-19 crisis
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 Panelists Early Childhood Unit, City of Ghent (Belgium) and Moderators 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
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 Topics 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 organizations and city governments.
Associazione 21 luglio is a non-profit organisation that supports groups and individuals in condition of extreme segregation and discrimination, protecting their rights and promoting children’s well-being
Italy: the country of camps Life expectancy in a camp is 10 years lower than that of the rest of the population 7
As soon as the lockdown was declared by the Prime Minister, Associazione 21 luglio conducted COVID-19: What now? a research to monitor the condition of Roma communities living in housing emergency in Rome 8
Insert picture Advocacy action Fundraising #IoRestoNelCampo #IStayCamp 9
Our response Immediate relief to the most vulnerable families with children aged 0-3 10
Our response Supporting children and schools through: Mediation Tutoring “Help desk” Remodeling of didactic contents and methods Providing tablets and data 11
Our response Set of activities designed for children and parents: Long distance film forum Fairy tales over the phone Zoom meetings WhatsApp groups Pshycomotor/recreational activities Assistance to get economic support Promotion of mutual aid 12
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 organizations 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
UKRAINIAN STEP BY STEP FOUNDATION https://dssvitl.wixsite.com/ svetlachok/ ne-sumuj-na-karantini 22
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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 UNICEF
Overwiew of the Situation
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 1 Keep children healthy 2 Reach vulnerable children with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) 3 Keep children learning 4 Support families to cover their needs and care for their children 5 Protect children from violence, exploitation and abuse Take targeted actions to protect refugee, migrant and internally displaced 6 children and children in conflict –affected and humanitarian settings UNICEF
What are the major challenges of being a refugee/migrant children at a refugee accommodation during Covid-19 pandemic? No Privacy No School & No (Constructional No Playground WiFi limitations – (in many cases) Housing) Uncertainty with No Activities Asylum (offered by Ramadan Applications volunteers) Limited or No No Evidence- social – based Data 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
What to Prioritize? • 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 UNICEF
What to Prioritize? • 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€). UNICEF
WHAT to PRIORITIZE? (cont´d) • Inform and support families to cover their needs and care for their children (areas of action #1, #4, #5) - Di sseminate ´ 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) UNICEF
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, 19 May 2020 City of Ghent, Belgium
A safe environment and CHALLENGE 1 communication For children contact bubbles For parents transparent communication and information to take away fear For staff daily Q&A
Reaching vulnerable families CHALLENGE 2 NORMAL SITUATION Social mix 40% vulnerable families COVID period Attendance dropped to minus 10% but staff is available Retrain staff Outreach to maintain warm contacts with families Existing cooperation with social workers to enrol vulnerable families into childcare
CHALLENGE 3 Organise integrated services Coordinated and organized childcare in the whole city Unique wider action radius made a higher level of 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
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