Bernard Van Leer has launched the 2018 edition of its journal, Early Childhood Matter. The Arab Resource Collective (ARC) contributed to this issue through an article on a program supporting refugees, internally displaced, and marginalized host community parents in the Arab region: Health, Early learning, and Protection Parenting Program (HEPPP). The article starts with the repercussions of the recent upheavals in the Arab region, particularly the war in Syria, leading to millions of people taking refuge in neighboring countries or being displaced within their own countries. In this regard, the humanitarian approach prioritizes urgent needs such as shelter, food, and medical services. Beyond these, families typically have no sustained support to provide appropriate care for their young children. To address this gap, HEPPP is to be scaled up following an evaluation of a recent pilot in Lebanon and Jordan. The program had first started in Egypt and Lebanon including the Palestinian Camps between 2012 and 2014. In 2016, HEPPP was adapted to include refugees, internally displaced, and hosting communities. Between 2016 and 2018, 110 parents were trained in Lebanon and Jordan. Of these, 12 “graduate” selected parents received training on basic facilitation skills. These parents later trained 120 new participants using a parent-to-parent approach. Following the current evaluation, ARC will revisit HEPPP to identify areas for improvement in terms of program content, methodology, and methods of delivery. You can find the full article in English at the following link:

https://bernardvanleer.org/ecm-article/supporting-refugee-internally-displaced-and-marginalised-host-community-parents-in-the-arab-region/