| Family Education Project and ELS |
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| Wednesday, 24 December 2008 10:19 |
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In February 2007, in recognition of the
complementarities existing between UNDP and UNICEF interventions in
community development, the two organizations decided to use the UNICEF
Family Education Project (FEP) to mobilize and raise awareness in 11
communities targeted by the ELS.
The overall objective of the EU-UNDP
Enhancement of Living Standards in Fergana Region (ELS), financed by
the European Union and implemented by United Nations Development
Programme with the assistance of the Government of the Republic of
Uzbekistan, is to put in place the conditions for enhancement of living
standards in four districts of the Fergana Region.
 In
February 2007, in recognition of the complementarities existing between
UNDP and UNICEF interventions in community development, the two
organizations decided to use the UNICEF Family Education Project (FEP)
to mobilize and raise awareness in 11 communities targeted by the ELS.
The FEP with its vision of integrated early childhood development was
initiated in May 2003 by the Government of Uzbekistan with technical
support from UNICEF, in response to the country’s need to empower
families to address problems that affect children’s health, growth and
development particularly from birth to 6 years. In March 2007 the ELS project organized 5
day cycle of training events for advisers of the chairman of the
Mahalla Committee on women’s issues, health workers of primary health
care centres patronage nurses, and representatives from ELS supported
community initiative groups on maternal and child health, water,
sanitation and hygiene. The event took place at the local community
primary health care structures rehabilitated by the ELS project
Participants received UNICEF training material including the well known
Facts for Life booklet with information in Uzbek on the different
stages of family education and child development.
The training is to be followed by an
evaluation of its impact in the community in April and October 2007.
The assessment will consist of two stages: the first will identify a
baseline and will consist of collection of qualitative and quantitative
data to assess the level of knowledge of communities and families in
health matters; the second after 5 months will consist evaluation of
the actual impact of the training on the population and the changes
that it is brought about through a better access an quality of basic
health services. Mother and child health indicators, such as
reduction in anaemia, iodine deficiency disorders, increase in
exclusive breastfeeding, better nutrition, increase in enrolment in
state kindergartens and the opening of non-formal voluntary schools are
among those which will be used to measure impact of community projects
and improved accesses to health infrastructures.
 The
FEP programme developed, tested and assessed by UNICEF has proved
effective in contributing to community mobilization and improved
community involvement in local development. ELS target communities that
have identified health as their main priority have related to this
training well, because the FEP uses an analogous approach to the one of
the ELS project which is based on community volunteer efforts. In
addition to involving volunteers in the programme, the FEP also
dovetails into the work of Mahalla advisors and patronage nurses who
play a vital role in the communities. This joint activity seeks to encourage
mutually beneficial UN interagency cooperation whereby the ELS project
applies the same methodology developed and tested by UNICEF in the ELS
districts and coordinates closely with UNICEF to expand the focus areas
and results from six to 10 districts.
A special note of appreciation goes to UNICEF colleagues in Uzbekistan for their active support and participation in the event.
For more information on UNICEF activities in Uzbekistan, please see: www.unicef.org/uzbekistan/
For more information on Facts for Life, see http://www.unicef.org/uzbekistan/Winter_2004.pdf Photos taken from the Facts for Life booklet, UNICEF. |
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