Children are not reaching their developmental potential due to low levels of cognitive stimulation, nutritional deficiencies, and excessive exposure to stress.

Research shows that intervening in the first three years of life is the most cost-effective way to promote Early Childhood Development (ECD).

As part of the TRECC program and to support the Government of Côte d’Ivoire’s strategic objectives, the Jacobs and Bernard Van Leer Foundations have supported an innovative communication campaign for behavior change designed and implemented by Development Media International.

This campaign, named Enfance, involved two interventions: a radio campaign, and the distribution of mobile videos to raise awareness among parents and caregivers about early stimulation of young children (0-2 years) and positive discipline practices.

The video campaign

  • Nine short video messages playable on basic cell phones were produced in French and eight dominant local languages. They were then distributed on memory cards to the households, directly or indirectly through midwives and community leaders.
  • Each video highlights simple but effective good parenting practices, such as singing, talking, playing with children, and using positive discipline methods.

The results of the impact evaluation

Innovations for Poverty Actions (IPA) has evaluated the impact of the video campaign. Results shows that:

  • Access to videos promoting good parenting practices improves parents’ knowledge and behaviors by reducing types of violence against children  and increasing positive discipline methods.
  • Sharing the videos through key community actors is a cost-effective approach for scaling behavior change campaigns.

Watch some of the videos and share your thoughts with us:

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