Empowering the Village to Raise the Child:

The Blog of the International Child Resource Institute

Archive for the ‘Malaysia’ Category

A Year of Joy, Hope and Challenge at ICRI

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

The year 2011 has brought a wonderful array of successes along with a greater knowledge of the needs of children in many parts of the world. 

Engaged students, teachers and parents at El Nuevo Mundo

Around the world, our programs have achieved greater levels of success but we have also seen obstacles to the healthy growth and development of children. Some of our successes:

  • Our UNICEF –funded Water Sanitation Health and Nutrition Project in Kenya reached 60,000 families with water-filtration systems, health outreach and nutrition education. We saw, through this project, the remarkable work of our Kenya staff in reaching families and children in three of the poorest regions in northern Kenya.
  • In Nepal, our National Center on Learning Resources (NCLR) continued to develop child-friendly schools in collaboration with 18 public and private primary and preschools. The work of our amazing Nepali teacher trainers in engaging the hearts and minds of teachers and parents through active participation and community involvement is a sight to behold.
  • In Ghana, we have recently launched a new National Early Childhood Teacher Coalition where those who believe that young Ghanaian children deserve supportive, nurturing, and curiosity-building education can receive training, resources and support.
  • In Zimbabwe, we continue to marvel at the Marondara Early Childhood Center serving AIDS orphans and other community children. Our staff has developed a building that nurtures children and our local teachers continue to create stimulating environments using only found objects and local materials.
  • In India, we are providing more teacher trainings to improve curricula, program delivery and environmental development for children in the Bengaluru and Kolkata areas.
  • Here in the U.S., we are working on articles moving us from research to practice on children’s brain development, international child advocacy efforts, and helping the world to see that they can use found objects and local materials to create high-quality, developmentally-stimulating environments for children around the world. We also welcomed to our ICRI family a bilingual preschool, El  Nuevo Mundo, which serves children in a low-income target area of Richmond, California.
  • In Malaysia, we designed an ECD center for the Central Bank of Malaysia that will serve as a model in the region for many years to come.

Our challenges include the need to refine or expand our work to serve more children, more schools, more families, and more communities more effectively in Kenya, Nepal, Ghana, Zimbabwe, India and the U.S.  We are also working to make our offices and programs around the world to become more self-sufficient by launching local fund development initiatives in each of the countries in which we work.

Our reason for hope is that we see a world where many of us better understand the needs of children and are more ready than ever to work at seeking lasting, sustainable solutions that will promote each child’s health, safety, education and security around the world.

You can help by donating to ICRI and, if you wish, designating a country or project that you would like to support. You can visit our website here to decide which project you would like to assist. You can make your donation by going to this link.

We thank those of you who are already part of the ICRI worldwide family and welcome all of you who want to bring about lasting change that will result in a world where no child is hungry, every child can reach his or her full potential and all those who nurture and care for children will be rewarded for the critical roles they play. We wish for you a joyous and peaceful new year!

For the children,

Ken.

Posted in Early Childhood Development, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Nepal, Nuevo Mundo, Uncategorized, Zimbabwe | No Comments »

Transformation for Children in Malaysia

Monday, August 15th, 2011

ICRI has been working in Malaysia since 1985, when we were invited to conduct a series of trainings in Kuala Lumpur on child advocacy and child development. This led to the formation of our sister organization, the Malaysian Child Resource Institute (MCRI), in 1988.

ICRI and MCRI facilitated the first National Child Advocacy Forum in 1997, and have continued to be deeply involved in national child and family policy advocacy. Working in tandem with ICRI, MCRI has advised numerous Malaysian government agencies, corporations, and NGOs on child advocacy and child development. MCRI has also conducted extensive training and capacity building for grassroots organizations serving Malaysian children and families.

MCRI has been at the forefront of the improvement and expansion of quality early childhood programs in Malaysia. MCRI assisted in the founding of NACEEM, the national association of early childhood professionals, and provides regular training on global best practices in early childhood care and education through Malaysian universities and NGOs. MCRI has also advised the Malaysian government on early childhood policy and programs.

MCRI also established the first national organization working to prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation, Protect and Save the Children. Originally a project of MCRI, P.S. the Children has since grown into its own freestanding organization. Its vision is to create “a world that upholds the rights and dignity of every child – where every child is protected from sexual abuse and exploitation; a world that neither accepts nor tolerates sexual violence, and where a child can SPEAK UP, be heard and be helped; a culture that excuses nobody from sexual crime and violence, where communities not only have the courage to speak up, but are also committed to reach out.”

The 1997 National Child Advocacy Forum was a true turning point for children in Malaysia. Co-sponsored by MCRI, UNICEF, and the Malaysian National Ministry of Planning, the event was a remarkable collaboration between the public sector and NGO sector. Ken Jaffe, ICRI’s Founder and Executive Director, delivered a keynote address and led a multiday workshop that included several key government ministers and officials working together to draft the country’s first national plan for Children. One participant, Shaharizat Abdul Jalil, was at the time the Minister of Children, Women and Labor for Malaysia. She expressed strong sentiments that Malaysia needed the collaboration of NGOs like ICRI and MCRI partnering with government entities in order to meet the diverse needs of the country’s children.

From 1997 to 2009 a major effort took place to make significant change in the quality, content and capacity of children’s programs in the country. In 2009 ICRI was invited to provide keynote speeches at the first Prime Minister and First Lady’s International Conference on Early Childhood Education. To note the remarkable growth from the 1980s to 2009 was a joy to both Malaysians and those working with them on behalf of children. The First Lady convened this international conference and invited First Ladies and Prime Ministers from about 15 other countries.

The 2009 conference was another watershed for children in Malaysia. Participants were able to see firsthand how 12 years of strategic efforts had allowed Malaysia to make substantial improvements in the lives of children and families. Because of the deep involvement of both the Prime Minister and First Lady, the conference had added import, and its impact was felt beyond the country itself. Other world leaders in attendance were inspired to return home and revive or rethink their own country’s vision for children. The Malaysian media also took an unusually strong interest in the conference and covered the event extensively with daily reporting of the conference events and regular prime time interviews with speakers. Thus the level of awareness of the needs of young children was raised not just with policymakers and NGO leaders, but citizens across the country.

ICRI is incredibly grateful to have been so closely involved in the creation and implementation of Malaysian child and family policies. We remain committed to working in Malaysia in the long term, collaborating with both governmental and non-governmental partners to ensure that this country continues its remarkable commitment to children.

Posted in Children's Rights, Early Childhood Development, ICRI 30th anniversary, Malaysia | No Comments »