Scaling Up Early Childhood Development in Zambia

The project began in January 2019 and is set to conclude in January 2022, with funding from USAID and Grand Challenges Canada. The project focuses on community-based parenting groups and the distribution of the Zambian Folklore Children's Book, with the goal of increasing psychosocial stimulation and ultimately improving child development outcomes. The project is being implemented in 10 health facility catchment areas across Southern Province and Eastern Province, with a total of 10,000 caregiver-child pairs targeted for recruitment. The project has made significant progress in recruiting caregiver-child pairs, with 630 pairs recruited during the reporting period. Additionally, 73 men were recruited to join existing parenting group meetings. The project has also made progress in training SMAGs on the ECD curriculum, with SMAGs trained on lessons 4-8 of the pre-scholar curriculum. However, the implementation of male-only parenting group meetings, which was originally planned for the reporting period, was postponed due to the second wave of COVID-19 disease. The implementation team will make time to train the 5 SMAGs who were not trained during the reporting period. The project has also distributed the Zambian Folklore Children's Book to caregivers and older siblings, with the goal of increasing psychosocial stimulation and ultimately improving child development outcomes. The book contains 22 Zambian folklore stories with culturally relevant illustrations and is intended to be read to children by caregivers or older siblings. The project has made significant progress in achieving its process indicators, with 100% of head mothers conducting at least one head (community-based parenting group) meeting per month, and 98% of caregiver-child pairs attending at least one CBPG meeting per quarter. However, the project has faced challenges in conducting activity monitoring and supervision visits due to the second wave of COVID-19 disease. The project will continue to implement community-based parenting groups and distribute the Zambian Folklore Children's Book, with the goal of improving early childhood development outcomes in rural Zambia. The project will also continue to monitor and evaluate its progress, with the aim of making adjustments as needed to ensure the successful implementation of the project. The project has a total planned expenditure of $3,068,424, with $1,840,000 accrued expenditures as of the reporting period. The project has also made significant progress in achieving its annual performance targets, with 100% of head mothers conducting at least one head (community-based parenting group) meeting per month, and 98% of caregiver-child pairs attending at least one CBPG meeting per quarter. The project will continue to work with its partners, including Boston University School of Public Health and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, to ensure the successful implementation of the project. The project will also continue to monitor and evaluate its progress, with the aim of making adjustments as needed to ensure the successful implementation of the project.