Regional consultation on parent support for early childhood development and adolescent health in South-East Asia

Overview

The South-East Asia Regional Convening of the Global Initiative to Support Parents stimulated the interest or engagement of almost 45 participants from various institutions, NGOs, and UN agencies, etc. The convening united representatives across the region around the common cause of supporting parents and caregivers.

The convening served as a platform for national representatives to share the country situation on parenting in their respective Southeast Asian nations. A core theme running throughout the sessions was how to take evidence-based interventions from science to scale, with exploration of the components of several specific interventions. Policies and platforms for supporting parenting were presented, as well as country experiences in influencing national policy to support parenting experiences from the Asia-Pacific Region. The convening also presented country experiences in the utilization of service delivery platforms, such as health, education, and childcare, to deliver parenting interventions.

Emerging themes such as men’s engagement, digital solutions, parenting during adolescence, parenting children with disabilities, preventing violence against children, and addressing caregiver mental health were explored. Participants had the opportunity to delve more deeply into the global initiatives as well as a number of frameworks and tools for parenting support, including the Nurturing Care Framework and toolkit, the AA-HA Framework, the INSPIRE Toolkit to End Violence Against Children, the Operational Guide for Integrating Perinatal Mental Health in Maternal, Newborn and Child Mental Health Service, Helping Adolescents Thrive, and the Caregiver Skills Training Program for Families of Children with Developmental Disorders or Delay.

Through the event, common issues and lessons across countries in South-East Asia emerged. The culminating session on development of Country Action Plans took the discussion on strategies and tools into concrete plans at country level, setting timed benchmarks for reaching goals. Participants left armed with knowledge, resources, and action plans on how to advance parenting in their own respective national contexts.

The Regional Consultation in South-East Asia was identified as a milestone event, as the first time in which so many government representatives in South-East Asia gathered specifically for the cause of supporting parents. A platform of those interested in parenting has been mobilized, which can be continuously engaged, following the convening, to continue the momentum of supporting parents and caregivers across the Region.