By Mustapha Jarju
Child Fund The Gambia has launched a three days training project known as ‘parenting practice for early childhood development’ for mentors and facilitators at Mansa Konko, Lower River Region.
The UNICEF sponsored training seeks to give good parenting guidance to the parent and the children guidance, and share information with them in a way they would easily understand.
Musukuta Komma Bah, Child Fund International Country Director to The Gambia said, Child Fund is a child development and a child protection organization that believes and invest a lot in development of the children.
“With that concept Child Fund knows the need of the protection of the children who are under the age of five, and the primary care to be given by their care givers. Hence, they are very cared about the child protection in complementing the efforts of the government to ensure that some of the child protection issues that are affecting children under five (5) especially things around FGM, are concerns that we really need to see how we address them, and one of the best approach in doing so is through improving the knowledge of the care givers,” she said.
“Child Fund the Gambia working with its international office has developed a program delivery model that systematically can be able to deliver session to care givers and the parents with minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 18 months nurturing them through so that they understand all the child rights under the child developmental need of the children,” she added.
According to her, every child before and after their birth, before you celebrate your 5th birthday, they would be able to enjoy their security and also, they should be healthy to celebrate their 5th birthday then you can transgress to other stages of life.
Famara Dabo, Child Fund the Gambia Programs and Sponsorship Director said: “Child Fund is implementing a wide spread approach to programming and in that they have different program models which they want to see infants are healthy and secured, and that model they have is protective and responsive parenting model.
“We work with parents; we give them skills and knowledge so that they are able to better takes care of the children. We work with the department of community of development so that they will identify people who would be able to serve as mentor or supervisors through the facilitators who will be helping through community level,” he added.
This parenting practice for early childhood development is targeted in three regions which include Lower River, Central River and North Bank Regions of the Gambia. In each of this regions Child Fund targets quite number of couples, in LRR we are targeting sixty couples, in CRR we are targeting 70 couples and in North Bank Region 70 couples, these are the parents that we are going to work with for the next 6 months to have this parenting session immediately after this training
