Some 40,000 children under the age of four, along with twenty thousand parents/caregivers in Guyana, will soon benefit from quality Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes and family support services, according to UNICEF Area Representa-tive for Guyana and Suri-name, Nicolas Pron.
As part of the programme, UNICEF Guyana has donated 100 ECD kits to the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security (MoHSS).
In a release yesterday, UNICEF Guyana said that the announcement was made during a handing-over ceremony at the Children and Family Centre in Sophia George-town.
It informed that each kit contains a wide range of resources to encourage playing, storytelling, numeracy and include materials for caregivers, and includes water and sanitation items for improved health and awareness of children. Each kit is also complemented with an activity guide.
Pron explained that the initiative, which is being funded by the Government of Canada, is an ongoing effort to promote safe and healthy learning and living environments to migrant and host communities in Guyana’s hinterland and selected coastal areas.
“Early childhood development is a fundamental right of every child. The first 1,000 days are the most delicate period for physical growth and brain development for girls and boys. As children thrive, entire communities grow, and a more sustainable and peaceful future is possible”, he said.
Minister of Human Ser-vices and Social Security, Dr Vindhya Persaud, who received the donation, expressed gratitude to the Canadian government and UNICEF Guyana for their contribution and longstanding support to children and youths in Guyana.
She noted that the ECD kits will go a long way in supporting children as it will be integrated into the ministry’s early childhood development day and night care programme.
“Because early childhood development is so important, we thought it fitting to meld it with the care programme of the MoHSS, introducing the new concept of night care… and these kits will be very useful because children will be in that environment for much of the day,” Persaud said.
“With the kits, comes the need for training and we have started that process with UNICEF. The team from MoHSS have been in the necessary meetings and trainings to develop the kind of curriculum we want to have within our [ECD] centres across the country,” she added.
The minister also said that some of the ECD kits will be utilised at a newly constructed Children’s Shelter in Region One. “The shelter is almost completed, and we look forward to commissioning it very soon and those kits will be well utilised there as well.”
Also present at the event was High Commissioner of Canada to Guyana, Mark Berman, who expressed his appreciation to MoHSS and UNICEF for their partnership on the ECD project.
“Through this partnership, we are working to build community, childcare and education services and facilities in an effort to ensure those facing increased vulnerabilities do not fall further behind in recovering from the pandemic.”
According to the release, it was only recently that a high-level visit from the Canadian government was able to witness firsthand, the results from the ongoing ECD project in Region One. At that project, close to 1,000 children including more than 300 migrant children in various communities in the Mabaruma sub-district are benefitting from early childhood development programmes and family support services. The programme emphasises nurturing care and early stimulation and aims to ensure children, particularly the most vulnerable, have the best start in life, the release added.
