The Grandparents, Parents, and Communities Join Forces to Give Young Children a Healthy Start in Life #GRAND project on March 21, 2024, organized Evidence for Policy Forum #E4P 0-3 ECCD Evidence-Based Innovations, Future Intervention Models, and Investment Improvement to Support National Policy and these are strong evidence of the impact of the project.

The forum is supported by Save the Children Hong Kong and in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, the Ministry of Interior, and the Kampong Cham Provincial Authority, which is the project's target area.

In an opening remark, Mr. Mot Sana, Programme Director of Save the Children in Cambodia, said targeted and creative social behavior change interventions through tailored key messages and communication channels to specific users, such as caregivers such as mothers, fathers, and grandparents, result in positive parenting.

He said, “The endline revealed that 68% of caregivers practice their knowledge on responsive care, a 47% increase compared with the baseline.  This means that we now have more caregivers spending time playing, caring, and being responsive to their children's needs.”

Mr. Sana also highlighted the important role of commune councils in promoting early childhood development and requested stakeholders, both caregivers and relevant actors at all levels, to continue to prioritize more investment in young children to help them grow morally, with knowledge and ability.

Ms. Helen I’Anson, Director of the International Programme and Advocacy of Save the Children Hong Kong, said caregivers are critical to reinforcing what is learned in an early childhood centre, stimulating their children’s learning, and role model the importance of play and an interactive approach. Their role is critical for strong early childhood development outcomes.

“SC HK will continue to support early childhood development because it is a children’s right, and fulfilling that right, can lead to brighter futures not just for those children, but for the whole of society,” she said.

H.E Prak Kosal, Director of the Department of ECE of the Ministry of Education Youth, and Sport, said children who received proper care and experienced kindergarten are active and have a strong educational foundation, morals, and understanding. He also reminded education officers, particularly teachers to continue to improve their teaching skills through self-development and to update their knowledge regularly to respond to world development as well as to provide effective education to children.

"How to apply learning through plays and so on. Changes in the world, the needs of the labor market, the economy, the digital age, and AI, if we could not keep up to all these, the education of children is not up to date," he said.

The forum also facilitated discussions across the national government stakeholders and program in supporting the development of 0-3 ECCD in Cambodia.

The GRAND project aims to help grandparents, parents, and the community join forces to give children a healthy start in life. The project was implemented from April 2022 to March 2024.