Inclusive and Community Participatory approaches for Early Childhood Programming in crisis and conflict affected settings

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

More than 5.5 million Venezuelans have left the country in search of better living conditions.  children face high levels of family separation, severe protection risks, disease, and limited access to formal and non-formal learning opportunities. In addition, Venezuelan children face elevated discrimination because of their ethnicity and migratory status, affecting their psychological and emotional development. Caregivers face high levels of anxiety, stress, and poor general health, and increased risk of relying on negative coping strategies to meet their basic needs. The high levels  of  stress  coupled  with  limited  opportunities  to  engage  in  playful  responsive caregiving and early learning, threaten both the immediate and long-term healthy development and wellbeing  of  young  children  and  may  have  lasting  detrimental  effects  on  the  societies  in  which they live.



Research shows that learning through play is not only vital for children’s healthy cognitive and socio-emotional development, but also builds resilience in coping with stress and adversity To respond to the pressing needs of migrant children and their families, the IRC developed Playwell. Playwell brought play-based socio-emotional learning (SEL) to children affected by crisis in Colombia during the COVID-19 pandemic though an audio program designed to promote learning among young Colombian and Venezuelan children living in Colombia. To date, Play Well project has leveraged IRC’s world-class educational content designed for crisis settings to provide: (1) remote, contextualized learning and support content for communities with limited internet connectivity; and (2) easy to use, modular content to support caregivers of children ages 6-12 to strengthen SEL skills at home. The project partners with local actors in Colombia to create, adapt and disseminate play-based SEL content for children via radio and other audio-supported devices for COVID-safe, in-home learning and development.



In the first year of production, Play Well has reached millions of families through Al Aire Con Enrique, a 20-episode audio program that integrates songs, humor, games, SEL challenges, self-care messages and other relevant topics into ~25 minute episodes to support the remote learning and development of socio-emotional skills in children.



One of the key learnings that emerged through this pilot, was 1). The Need for increased community engagement in content development, including children, caregivers and teachers, to empower, engage and leverage their experiences, challenges and context; 2). Need for safe learning and play spaces in vulnerable communities to promote small group listening and engagement sessions; and 3).Opportunity to leverage Play Well for a broad-scale movement targeting shifting social norms to embrace play-based learning, building upon the interest and enthusiasm expressed by policy makers in partnering with Play Well to advance this play agenda in the coming year.





These learnings were key in the design of the scale up of the initial pilot, Jujuegalo ( Play movement). Jujuegalo takes a multi-pronged approach – expanding tried and tested distance learning content, building local capacity to deliver learning through play programming through play spaces, and partnering with critical community level, government and civil society actors. The engagement of and inclusion in programmatic decision making of key populations from host, migrant communities including young children, youth, mothers, fathers and teachers allowed for a targeted intervention that would not only create an enjoyable experience for children while visiting the play spaces and accessing digital content, but also allow for these to be recreated in a variety of spaces in the home, community and schools. Through semi-structured interviews, focus groups, workshops, observations, and leveraging the expertise of each organization when it came to community engagement and communications and early childhood programming, Jujuegalo was developed and with it a variety of digital and in person play based experiences where children and families were placed in the driver’s seat when it came to creation and design of content that most appealed to them.



This program supported caregivers and teachers to recognize and incorporate play as a necessity in the socio-emotional learning, well-being and comprehensive development of boys and girls. Jujuegalo supported the articulation, visibility, and recognition of the role of community communication to promote the messaging around the importance of play and investments in early childhood. Embedding this project directly into local community structures via co design processes and working with existing networks directly linked to targeted communities and families was an intentional and also key driver of success for Jujugelo being designed by and for children, youth and their families, thus amplifying their voices at a local, regional and national level. Community organizations have shared their capacities and have expanded their attention capacity to boys and girls. Additionally, promoting participation, play and communication as principles of social cohesion enables communities to become agents of change. This is reflected in the results of the program where communities, through interactive playspaces have transformed previously insecure environments to safe and inclusive spaces for all to access fomenting social cohesion across various community groups whose unified vision, resiliency and persistence to ensure that their children have access to safe play and learning spaces.





Together with local partners La Otra Juventud and AEIOTU, the panel will include a focus on community participation strategies to effectively inform sustainable and community led programming in crisis-affected context. The panel will focus on 1. Co creating with communities for innovative approaches to reaching children in crisis and conflict affected settings 2. The key role local stakeholders play in supporting access and meaningful engagement with targeted communities and 3. Overview of empirical results from project based on design research and mixed methods tools used during project period including focus group discussions with children, adolescents, families and key community leaders and satisfaction survey results.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Maria Adelaida Lopez, aeioTU

Individual Presentations

• Co-creating with communities for innovative and community participation approaches to reaching children in Early Childhood in emergencies programming - Camilo Valenzuela, International Rescue Committee IRC

• Access to and engagement of community networks including grassroot organizations, community leaders as key to development of sustainable community activities - Maria Adelaida Lopez, aeioTU

• Use of Design research and technical committees to ensure activities are aligned with and continuously address the priorities of targeted populations. - Estefanía Sirlopú Castillo, International Rescue Committee IRC