Ahlan Simsim Families: An adaptable model to support caregivers and children in crisis settings in the Middle East

• In Event: Fostering Equity from the Start: Early Childhood Development Parenting Interventions in Crisis Contexts

Proposal

Children and their families living in the Middle East region have experienced levels of adversity that threaten their development. Research shows that developing basic cognitive and social-emotional skills can help promote resilience and, for the most vulnerable children, help mitigate the negative effects of conflict and crisis. Caregiver-child relationships and interactions are key to supporting children to build these skills, yet many caregivers in crisis may not know how to best support their children’s development in challenging circumstances.

In many conflict and crisis contexts, families may not be able to access long-term or in-person programming, due to moving frequently or to unsafe environments. To increase access to quality parenting programs for families living in a variety of challenging circumstances, the Ahlan Simsim project has developed and implemented a flexible, short-term parenting program since 2018. Since 2018, various iterations of this program have reached over 400,000 caregivers in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. This presentation will share the iterative design process that led to the current Ahlan Simsim Families program, monitoring data on implementation quality and caregiver outcomes, and impact data on caregiver outcomes and child development from a forthcoming randomized controlled trial in Lebanon.

Targeting caregivers of children ages 3 to 8 years, the Ahlan Simsim Families program consists of nine core topics and three elective topics that can be delivered in nine to twelve sessions of 60-90 minutes over several weeks or several months, depending on what is feasible in particular contexts. Trained facilitators can deliver the program in groups or 1:1, and in-person or remotely via phone calls. Sessions provide caregivers with information about child development and specific activities to do with children in the home, building cognitive and socioemotional development with an emphasis on learning through play. Culturally tailored to the Middle East, the sessions focus on three main areas: 1) Responsive relationships, or the caregiver’s ability to notice, understand, and respond to their child’s signals in order to strengthen emotional bonds, trust, and attachment; 2) Early learning, or any opportunity for the child to interact with a person, place, or object in their environment with support and encouragement from caregivers; 3) Safety and security, both physical and emotional.

This presentation will share the design process and results of the Ahlan Simsim Families program. After the initial program design in 2018, the Ahlan Simsim team has continued to use both qualitative feedback from staff and participants and quantitative monitoring data on program implementation and outcomes to revise and improve Ahlan Simsim Families. Recent revisions have added more content on the inclusion of children with physical and cognitive disabilities in activities, as well as adapting the program for remote delivery by phone call during COVID. Monitoring data from over 20,000 caregivers who have participated in Ahlan Simsim Families in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria suggests that this program contributes to increasing caregiver knowledge of ECD and its importance, and to increasing the frequency of developmentally supportive interactions with children.

Authors

• Lina Torossian, International Rescue Organization

• Kate Schwartz, Global TIES for Children, New York University

• Maram Yousef Shahin, International Rescue Committee