Project Lead(s): Bethany Ericson, Caroline Dusabe
Parent-child interaction in a child’s earliest years can have a long-term impact on their physical health, social and emotional well-being, and cognitive capacities.
While other parenting education programs exist, few countries have implemented nation-wide holistic parenting education approaches, and most are limited in communications effectiveness. The First Steps project is piloting a nationally-scalable and holistic approach to parenting education, initially reaching an estimated 2,430 parents from 1,620 families.
The intervention is integrated with Rwandan government structures, combines radio programming with community-based peer learning groups, and collaborates with local publishers and entrepreneurs to increase parents’ access to books for young children.