“we are passionate about funding fast growth”

This is a summary of a Daily Maverick article emphasizing translating South Africa’s national nutrition commitments into community-level actions during a child’s first 1,000 days. It highlights strategies to prevent stunting, improve maternal and child nutrition, and mobilize local stakeholders, linking early interventions to long-term health, development, and national targets for 2030.

This is a summary of a Daily Maverick opinion piece by De Wet Swanepoel highlighting South Africa’s shortcomings in early hearing detection. It emphasizes that delayed identification of hearing loss in infants contributes to learning gaps, advocates for universal newborn screening, and stresses timely intervention to support language development and educational outcomes.

This is a summary of the South African Speech‑Language‑Hearing Association page on World Hearing Day, an annual global advocacy event held on 3 March to raise awareness about preventing hearing loss and promoting ear and hearing care. The SASLHA page shares free downloadable awareness posters in multiple South African languages aimed at supporting communities and schools to protect children’s hearing and learning, aligned with the 2026 World Hearing Day theme “From communities to classrooms: hearing care for every child” as championed by the World Health Organization.

This is a summary of a Sight and Life nutrition series piece emphasising adolescence as a critical yet often overlooked window for nutrition. It highlights increased nutrient needs, links to growth and development, and calls for targeted interventions to improve diets, break intergenerational malnutrition, and support long-term health outcomes.

This is a summary of a technical brief and FAQ outlining quality standards for UNIMMAP multiple micronutrient supplements. It explains requirements for manufacturing, testing, packaging, and regulatory compliance, helping ensure safe, effective, and consistent products while guiding countries, suppliers, and programmes in maintaining high-quality maternal nutrition interventions.

This is a summary of a systematic review in Infant and Child Development defining parent responsiveness. It presents a theoretical model detailing how parents recognize, interpret, and respond to infants’ cues, emphasizing timing, sensitivity, and appropriateness. The model links responsive parenting to improved cognitive, social, and emotional development in early childhood.

This is a summary of a narrative review comparing acceptability of antenatal multiple micronutrient supplements with iron and folic acid supplementation. It finds MMS is generally well accepted, with similar or better adherence, fewer side effects, and positive perceptions among pregnant individuals, supporting its feasibility for wider implementation in maternal nutrition programmes globally.

This is a summary of an ATNi country report assessing South Africa’s retail food environment, examining how major retailers influence access to nutritious foods through product availability, pricing, and promotions. It finds most products are unhealthy, healthier options are less accessible and affordable, and stronger retailer policies are needed.

This is a summary of an ATNi policy brief on South Africa’s retail food sector, highlighting how retailer practices affect diets. It calls for stronger policies to promote healthier products, improve affordability and availability, enhance transparency, and encourage responsible marketing to support better nutrition and public health outcomes.

This is a summary of ATNi’s Retail Assessment 2025, evaluating how global food retailers shape consumer diets through product portfolios, pricing, placement, and promotions. It finds retailers often prioritise less healthy options, with limited commitments to nutrition, and urges stronger accountability, transparency, and strategies to improve access to healthier foods.

This is a summary of a Spotlight article highlighting delayed diagnosis of hearing loss in South African babies. It reports that thousands are affected annually, yet few receive early screening, leading to late detection after critical developmental stages, with negative impacts on language, learning, and long-term outcomes, underscoring need for universal screening.

This is a summary of a UNICEF-published technical brief and FAQ outlining updated quality standards for UNIMMAP multiple micronutrient supplements. It highlights manufacturing, testing, and compliance requirements to ensure safe, effective products, supporting countries, suppliers, and programmes in delivering consistent, high-quality supplements for improved maternal nutrition outcomes.

A new pilot study from Pakistan demonstrated that distributing multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS) through its existing public health system is feasible and can effectively reach pregnant women. Led by the Junaid Family Foundation and Pakistan’s Ministry of National Health Services, the initiative integrated MMS into routine antenatal care (ANC) by utilizing Lady Health Workers (LHWs) and public facilities.

This article highlights the growing global burden of disabling hearing loss, affecting nearly 466 million people, including millions of children. It emphasizes the importance of universal newborn and infant hearing screening programs to enable early detection, diagnosis, and intervention. Effective screening systems, strong policies, and accessible audiological services are essential to reduce long-term impacts of childhood hearing loss.

This is a national report which reveals that only about 42 % of children enrolled in early learning programmes are developmentally on track, highlights stark inequalities by income and gender, and shows children not enrolled fare much worse. The findings emphasise deep gaps in early learning, physical growth (including stunting) and social‑emotional functioning, and call for urgent action to improve access, quality, nutrition, and support for families to ensure young children thrive before formal schooling.

This journal article systematically reviews randomised controlled trials of dietary interventions for pregnant women. It identifies which behavior change techniques (like goal‑setting and rewards) and intervention features (such as delivery by nutrition professionals or group sessions) are most effective at improving diet quality during pregnancy. The analysis shows that some techniques significantly improve mothers’ dietary intake, with implications for designing better antenatal nutritional programs.

The Burns Awareness Guide from Surgeons For Little Lives provides educational materials in multiple languages to help prevent paediatric burn injuries and promote burn safety and first‑aid awareness, supporting broader public education and injury reduction efforts

These are training materials to equip nurses, doctors, and community health workers with the knowledge and practical tools to recognise, manage, and prevent common childhood illnesses. By enhancing skills and awareness, they help healthcare professionals save lives and promote healthier, safer futures for children in their communities.

The WHO Vaccination Information Hub is an evidence‑based resource offering scientific information on how vaccines work, vaccine safety, development, ingredients, and immunization schedules for the public and health professionals. It includes Q&As, explainers, training tools, and links to related vaccination topics and resources.

This opinion piece advocates for a Maternal Support Grant in South Africa to help pregnant women living in poverty. The grant would improve nutrition, healthcare access, and early child development, reduce public health costs, and support social justice, but government approval has been delayed.

This article about how global alcohol companies are pivoting from shrinking markets in Europe and North America to pursue growth in African and other emerging markets. It discusses concerns that this strategic shift could increase alcohol availability, influence and related health harms in Africa.

Life Orientation on EduPortal offers structured resources for Life Skills and Life Orientation across South African school phases, from Intermediate (Grades 4–6) to Senior (Grades 7–9) and FET (Grades 10–12), guiding learners through holistic life‑skills development.

The article discusses why many young adults struggle to form social connections, highlighting research by Stanford psychologist Jamil Zaki and his colleague Rui Pei. It explains that young people underestimate others’ warmth, spend more time alone, and are affected by polarized online culture, but taking small social risks can build stronger relationships and improve well‑being.

This story shows how Julia’s mother shares a creative skill passed down from her grandmother, allowing Julia to explore, learn, and express herself in her own way. It highlights the value of family traditions and shared experiences in nurturing creativity. By offering supportive guidance and new opportunities, parents can help children discover their abilities, grow confidence, and surprise them over time with their unique talents.

HOPE‑Hear provides resources to support children’s hearing and ear health, including newborn hearing screening, identifying hearing loss, ear care, safe listening, and tips for hearing aid users. These downloadable guides help parents and caregivers promote healthy hearing and early language development in children.

This report highlights global hearing loss as a major public health issue, urges integration of people‑centred ear and hearing care into health systems, and promotes cost‑effective interventions to prevent and address hearing loss across the lifespan.

The South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), with the Department of Social Development, has launched the Ke Moja WhatsApp chat platform to support youth struggling with substance abuse. It offers free, easily accessible live chat counselling via WhatsApp, aiming to reach more young people who prefer messaging and to guide them toward help and resources.

The Stories for Joy series on the ECD Info Hub offers open-licensed South African storybooks for children from birth to five, designed to build emergent language, literacy, creativity and thinking skills. These locally developed, age-appropriate books support play-based reading and learning and can be freely printed and used in early learning and home settings.

BBC Tiny Happy People is a free online resource from BBC Education (now part of CBeebies Parenting) that helps parents and caregivers support children’s early speech, language, and communication development from pregnancy through age 4. It offers fun activities, expert tips, videos, and evidence‑based advice to make everyday moments language‑rich and build strong early skills

The Stories for Joy series on the ECD Info Hub offers open-licensed South African storybooks for children from birth to five, designed to build emergent language, literacy, creativity and thinking skills. These locally developed, age-appropriate books support play-based reading and learning and can be freely printed and used in early learning and home settings.

A new neuroimaging study showing how a preschoolers’ brain activates differently during live book reading versus screen‑based storytelling, with book reading engaging social and language‑related brain regions more strongly than screen time, highlighting potential cognitive and developmental benefits of shared reading.

The Ethnikids website promotes an online children’s bookstore specialising in diverse, inclusive books and stationery featuring characters of colour and materials in various South African languages. Its mission is to ignite a love of reading and representation for young readers, offering selections by language, age group, and cultural relevance.

The article argues that expanding early access to books and reading opportunities is crucial to addressing South Africa’s literacy crisis, improving education outcomes and unlocking future potential. Enhancing book access through libraries, early reading programs and community initiatives can help transform young lives and the country’s future.

This page reviews global research showing that unconditional cash transfers (UCTs) direct financial payments with no requirements on how they’re spent raise incomes, improve food security and mental well-being, and often lead to greater spending on essentials. Evidence from randomized studies finds that recipients invest, maintain employment, and don’t waste funds on harmful goods, with some effects lasting years and benefiting local economies too.

The Western Cape Government launched Khulisa Care, a pilot program to combat child stunting and support maternal nutrition. It provides protein-rich food vouchers, healthcare, and community health worker support to underweight pregnant women and mothers of low-birth-weight babies, with partners including Grow Great, DG Murray Trust, Shoprite, Mireille Wenger, and Alan Winde

The article highlights cost‑effective protein choices starting from around R5, like Shoprite’s budget liver burgers, lentils, beans, chicken hearts, liver, and tinned fish. Nutritionists recommend bulk buying and using diverse protein sources to balance cost with nutrition and support overall health.

This DGMT interview highlights that millions of informal and self‑employed workers in South Africa are currently ineligible for maternity and parental benefits under labour laws, leaving pregnant women without income support. Advocates call for legal reforms and a Maternal Support Grant to fill this protection gap

This broadcast explains why a Maternal Support Grant (MSG) is essential to help prevent child stunting in South Africa. It highlights how providing monthly cash support to pregnant women improves maternal nutrition, reduces low birth weight and stunting, and is cost‑effective, yet the policy still awaits government approval.

DGMT’s Nutrition Lead, Liezel Engelbrecht, discusses on Bhekisisa Health Beat how implementing a maternity support grant from mid‑pregnancy to three months postpartum could help reduce low birth weight, prevent stunting in infants, and yield substantial healthcare savings.

DGMT’s Deputy CEO, Kentse Radebe, urged the South African government on Newzroom Afrika to support and fast‑track a Maternal Support Grant to provide pregnant women with vital income during pregnancy, improve nutrition and birth outcomes, and reduce stunting and poverty. Advocates stress strong evidence and urgency for policy approval

In an ENCA interview, DGMT’s Kentse Radebe highlighted growing calls for the South African government to fast-track the Maternity Support Grant, providing vital support to vulnerable pregnant women amid rising child poverty and malnutrition, with nearly 70% of children living below the poverty line.

During an ENCA interview, DGMT Deputy CEO Kentse Radebe emphasized that increasing shoplifting rates signal widespread poverty and hardship, particularly among families with infants. Referencing a Daily Maverick article, she explained how many parents face challenges in providing for basic household needs.

ENCA discussed South Africa’s proposed Maternal Support Grant (MSG), designed to reduce maternal and child malnutrition, has faced over a decade of delays despite strong supporting evidence. Civil society urges urgent implementation, while government concerns about cost and policy alignment persist.

This executive summary outlines how multiple, overlapping global crises like the COVID‑19 pandemic, climate breakdown, conflict, inflation, and food insecurity are widening gaps in young children’s development, health, and access to services. It calls for child‑centred, system‑level solutions in policy, financing, and protection to help children thrive despite these compounded pressures.

This report examines how interconnected global crises including climate change, conflict, inequality, and economic instability are intensifying risks to young children’s development, health, and well‑being. It highlights structural barriers, calls for child‑centred policy, financing, and systemic transformation, and offers adaptive strategies and recommendations for stakeholders to better support children globally.

This UNICEF South Africa report provides a comprehensive overview of the living conditions of children and adolescents across key sectors like health, nutrition, education, water and sanitation, and social protection. It highlights persistent vulnerabilities, deprivations and barriers faced by young people, including multidimensional poverty, health and education gaps, and unequal access to services, and serves as a call to action for policymakers and stakeholders to improve children’s rights and well‑being.

This is a set of 2025 country profiles developed under the Nurturing Care Framework by UNICEF in collaboration with Countdown to 2030: Women’s, Children’s and Adolescent’s Health. The profiles compile key indicators and data on early childhood development across nearly 200 countries to support monitoring, planning and policy action on nurturing care, early learning, health, nutrition and child well‑being globally.

To improve and strengthen the delivery of the ECD function, the review examines expenditure that is allocated to ECD, identifies opportunities to increase or improve expenditure, and suggests ways to strengthen inter-departmental and cross-government collaboration to help ensure that all children in South Africa receive a comprehensive package of integrated support and services to build the foundations to thrive later in life.

This report is a 2024 advisory by South Africa’s National Planning Commission ECD Advisory Report. It argues that better coordination across government departments and spheres is essential to build an integrated early childhood development (ECD) strategy that can inform the 2024‑29 Medium‑Term National Development Plan. The advisory highlights current coordination gaps and calls for urgent action to ensure children benefit from equitable, quality ECD services and stronger state capacity.

This is a guidance resource outlining indicators and tools to assess responsive caregiving and early learning practices in young children’s families and communities. It defines measurable behaviours (like play, communication and caregiver engagement), suggests data sources (surveys, observation tools), and helps programmes monitor and improve nurturing care for early childhood development.

This annual flagship report from the Children’s Institute focuses on early childhood development (ECD) in South Africa, tracking progress against the National Integrated ECD Policy and highlighting critical gaps in health, nutrition, learning access and social support. It presents data showing ongoing high child poverty, stunting and low developmental outcomes, and recommends strengthened investment and coordinated services to ensure young children thrive.

This is an executive summary of a review showing that South Africa’s Child Support Grant (CSG) reached over 13 million children but remains too low to protect them from hunger, malnutrition and stunting. It finds high child poverty rates, racially‑ and geographically‑unequal deprivation, and recommends increasing the CSG to at least the food poverty line to substantially reduce child poverty and improve child well‑being.

This report shows that over 80% of South African learners cannot read for meaning by Grade 3, and home language proficiency strongly predicts later success in additional languages and grade progression. While teacher reading competencies have improved, maths knowledge lags. Provincial assessments and programmes like the Western Cape’s Back-on-Track show promising effects, but systemic challenges—including budget constraints, unfunded mandates, teacher supply gaps, and weak national planning—continue to limit improvements in foundational literacy and numeracy.

This brief report summarises evidence that tobacco use especially maternal smoking and second-hand smoke exposure is linked to child stunting, affecting growth and development. It’s an advocacy tool for health professionals and policymakers to strengthen tobacco control and protect child health.

This handbook provides judges and legal practitioners with guidance on applying South African law to online harms — such as hate speech, disinformation, and harmful digital content. It explains legal standards, relevant statutes, case law, and practical decision‑making tools to help courts protect fundamental rights while addressing emerging digital challenges.

This case-based report shows how small, data-informed adjustments in early learning programmes can significantly boost young children’s developmental outcomes. It highlights nine key conditions for scaling improvements, the role of reliable data (ELOM), practitioner support, collaboration, timely feedback, sustainable funding, and real-world South African examples

This brief highlights how warm, interactive, child-led conversations between adults and young children support development and help close early learning gaps. It explains that encouraging curiosity and shifting practitioner behaviour can unlock meaningful learning gains, especially in challenging contexts.

This report explores how early childhood development (ECD) programme benefits change over time. It reviews global and local research on why short-term gains from preschool can diminish (“fade out”) by around Grade 3, and what programme quality, timing, and supportive education systems help sustain long-term learning advantages. It highlights that strong primary schooling and well-designed ECD can reduce fade-out.

This brief argues South Africa should transition from iron-folic acid to Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation (MMS) in antenatal care to improve maternal and newborn health. MMS containing 15 essential micronutrients more effectively reduces low birth weight, preterm birth and stillbirth, especially where anaemia and micronutrient deficiencies are high. It’s cost-effective, offers large economic returns, and aligns with national development goals, urging decisive policy action and integration into routine care.

This policy brief calls for urgent action to ensure all South African children access nutritious food. It proposes affordable food measures, stronger local food systems, better nutrition quality through fortification, and maternal support to reduce stunting, improve growth, and boost lifelong health and economic wellbeing.

This report provides up‑to‑date global data and statistics on childhood immunization, including coverage rates for major vaccines (e.g., DTP3) and tools to explore immunization by country or antigen. It highlights trends, progress, gaps in vaccine delivery, and supports monitoring efforts to reach every child with life‑saving vaccines.

This report shows global under‑five mortality has more than halved since 2000, but progress is slowing. In 2023, an estimated 4.8 million children died before age five, mostly from preventable causes. Persisting inequities mean children in low‑resource and fragile settings face far higher risks, underscoring the urgent need for renewed investment and policy action.

This report presents the latest stillbirth data and evidence from 195 countries. It shows nearly 1.9 million stillbirths in 2023, highlights that many are preventable with quality maternal and childbirth care, reveals major regional disparities, and outlines key interventions to reduce stillbirths and improve counting and bereavement support.

This youth‑focused guide explains how heavy drinking harms children and teens in South Africa including unsafe homes, accidents, and early alcohol use and what can be done to reduce those harms. It discusses rethinking drinking norms, raising awareness, and supporting healthier choices to protect young lives and futures.

This evidence review documents how South Africa’s high levels of alcohol consumption cause widespread harm to children and teens before birth (foetal alcohol spectrum disorders), through unsafe homes, road crashes, violence, depression, risky sex, school dropout and community trauma. It highlights links between binge drinking culture and child/adolescent injury and developmental harm, and calls for evidence‑based actions such as stricter alcohol policies (advertising bans, minimum unit pricing, restricted sales hours), stronger enforcement, community mobilisation, and public health interventions to protect young people.

This is a policy brief by Hold My Hand arguing that South Africa should urgently introduce universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) as part of routine maternal and child health services. It highlights that around 6 000 babies are born with hearing loss annually, yet fewer than 10 % are screened at birth, delaying diagnosis and missing critical early intervention windows. The brief frames UNHS as feasible, cost‑effective and essential for equitable early development, calling for integrated screening, trained personnel and strengthened data systems so children can develop language and thrive.

This report tracks the wellbeing of South African children under six, showing that post‑COVID‑19 many are more likely to live in poverty, face food insecurity, malnutrition and higher mortality. It presents data on health, nutrition, caregiver support, social protection and early learning to guide policy and action to improve early childhood development.

This report shows that child poverty remains widespread and complex, with hundreds of millions of children living in extreme or multidimensional deprivation across health, education, water and sanitation, nutrition and protection. It emphasises that poverty undermines survival and development, highlights stalled progress and intersecting crises (conflict, climate, funding shortfalls), and calls for urgent policies social protection, public services, decent work and rights‑centred planning to end child poverty globally.

A report by UNICEF Innocenti which explores nine core capacities such as empathizing, observing, listening, and inquiring that are foundational for children’s living, learning, and well-being. It synthesises evidence on how these skills develop and how education systems and broader social policies can nurture them to improve children’s growth and potential worldwide.

This is a 2025 UNICEF global report on progress in parenting and early childhood development. It highlights how supporting parents with strong policies, services and programmes enables nurturing care that promotes children’s health, learning and well‑being. The report reviews progress, challenges and offers recommendations to strengthen parenting support worldwide.

This report highlights South Africa’s ongoing school dropout crisis, showing that up to 4 in 10 learners leave before Grade 12. It argues that school dropout is driven by cumulative psychosocial issues like poverty, violence, poor mental health, hunger, weak support and unsafe environments, and stresses embedding psychosocial support into schooling to keep learners engaged and improve retention.

This policy brief reviews evidence from 16 randomized evaluations of adolescent girls’ life skills programmes in low‑ and middle‑income countries. It shows that life skills training strengthens girls’ “power within” confidence, aspirations and gender attitudes enabling them to make choices that improve education, labour, health, and empowerment outcomes. The brief also outlines key behavioural mechanisms and design insights for effective life skills programming.

This is a UNICEF Innocenti strategic framework that identifies key research priorities to close critical evidence gaps for children with disabilities and ensure their full inclusion in policy and programs. Developed through extensive global consultation, it promotes disability-inclusive, participatory research, outlines priority topics (e.g., education, protection, social support), and calls governments, donors and researchers to act on evidence for real-world impact.

This is a 2018 guideline setting standards for Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI). It recommends screening, diagnosis and intervention timelines for infants, aiming for hearing screening by about six weeks, diagnosis by four months and intervention by eight months, to support timely identification of hearing impairment and promote optimal child communication and development. The guideline adapts international EHDI standards to South Africa’s health context and emphasises audiologists’ roles and systematic EHDI service delivery.

This book explores early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) in African contexts. It reviews identification, diagnosis, and intervention for childhood hearing impairment, highlights unique challenges in low- and middle-income settings, and offers culturally responsive, evidence-based practices, policy insights, and case studies aimed at improving outcomes for children with hearing loss across the continent.

This report highlights global hearing loss as a major public health issue, urges integration of people‑centred ear and hearing care into health systems, and promotes cost‑effective interventions to prevent and address hearing loss across the lifespan.

This is a technical guidance handbook designed to help countries plan and set up evidence‑based hearing screening programmes across the life course. It builds on the World Report on Hearing by advising public health planners and ministries on how to screen newborns and infants, school‑age children, and older adults, including who to screen, tools and protocols to use, follow‑up pathways and integration with health systems to enable early identification and intervention for hearing loss and ear diseases.

This report shows that South Africa has high alcohol consumption, averaging 27 litres of pure alcohol per person in 2019 about five glasses of wine, beer, or spirits daily. Rethink Your Drink, a DGMT project, targets excessive drinking to reduce social and health harms. It uses strategic litigation, carefully chosen legal cases against the industry or government, to create broader societal change rather than resolving individual disputes.

This report from Movendi International reveals how multinational alcohol companies coordinated global interference throughout 2025, intensifying political lobbying, narrative control, and digital promotion to delay evidence-based alcohol policy. Based on 1,300 monitored cases and 77 studies, it exposes systematic tactics that protect industry interests at the expense of public health and equity.

The Blueprint presents a practical pathway to align and mobilise the entire early learning ecosystem, from government, communities and early learning programme (ELP) providers, to families, NGOs and funders, to move at scale, with speed, and sustainability, so no child is left behind

This standards document provides developmental expectations and learning goals for children from birth to age four. It supports curriculum planning, caregiver preparation, monitoring of early learning programmes, parenting, school-readiness assessment and the improvement of teaching and caregiving quality by outlining key developmental domains and appropriate activities.

This paper explores the concept of “mattering” the feeling that one is valued and has something to contribute and explains why it’s crucial in early childhood development. It argues that this sense first emerges in infancy and shapes lifelong health, emotional wellbeing, resilience, and social skills. Feeling that they matter helps children build confidence, cope with stress, and develop positive relationships. The authors provide scientific insights and practical strategies for caregivers, educators, and policymakers to foster mattering in young children’s lives and environments.

This publication outlines key principles for designing and implementing effective parenting programmes that support nurturing care in early childhood. It discusses the role of such programmes in improving child development outcomes, essential components (e.g., content, delivery, caregiver engagement), measurement and monitoring, and policy implications for scaling interventions that strengthen family and community support systems globally.

This study by UNICEF in South Africa assessed parents’ and caregivers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) about the role of play in early learning. It found that while most caregivers recognise play’s developmental importance for language, cognitive and socio-emotional skills, many face barriers such as limited time, stress and lack of confidence. The findings informed programmes, including the #PowerOfPlay campaign, to strengthen play-based learning at home.

Early Childhood Matters is a global storytelling platform connecting voices and ideas that advance collective thinking on early childhood development. It aims to ignite conversations and widen perspectives on what we can do to ensure a good start for all babies, toddlers and their caregivers.

This study by UNICEF in South Africa assessed parents’ and caregivers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) about the role of play in early learning. It found that while most caregivers recognise play’s developmental importance for language, cognitive and socio-emotional skills, many face barriers such as limited time, stress and lack of confidence. The findings informed programmes, including the #PowerOfPlay campaign, to strengthen play-based learning at home.

This study by UNICEF in South Africa assessed parents’ and caregivers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) about the role of play in early learning. It found that while most caregivers recognise play’s developmental importance for language, cognitive and socio-emotional skills, many face barriers such as limited time, stress and lack of confidence. The findings informed programmes, including the #PowerOfPlay campaign, to strengthen play-based learning at home.

This report is a 2016 study showing how South African experts, policymakers and the public think differently about early childhood development (ECD). It highlights where views overlap and diverge, especially around the age when key development happens, and offers suggestions for better communication to build wider understanding and support for early-childhood policies.

This is a UNICEF South Africa report using a pilot benchmarking tool to assess how well national policies support universal parenting. It reviews strengths and gaps in South Africa’s legislative, institutional and programmatic landscape, noting solid foundations but recommending stronger coordination, sustained funding, and integrated monitoring to scale parenting support.

This policy brief is an accountability checklist for implementing policy commitments to enable parent-led nurturing care from birth to lay the foundations for inclusive, human capital development.

This report provides practical advice for policymakers and programme designers on how to develop, deliver and scale early childhood parenting interventions. It outlines evidence-based principles, key components, implementation strategies, monitoring tools and contextual considerations to improve child development outcomes through supportive parenting practices and early learning environments.

This guide outlines good practice elements for parenting support programmes linked to Early Childhood Development (ECD). It describes core areas programme design, common topics, delivery models, monitoring and evaluation, state support systems, and centralised information—and offers tips for engaging parents/caregivers and addressing their needs in diverse contexts.

Give your child the best start! Early childhood development thrives when children receive nurturing care, a loving home, and a caring community. From pregnancy to preschool, support services and extra care for families help children grow, learn, and reach their full potential.

This is a UNICEF guidance document providing a framework for multi‑sectoral support to parents of children from pregnancy to age 8. It outlines strategies, entry points, and delivery platforms to strengthen parenting support across health, education, and social sectors, aiming to enhance child development and overall family well‑being in Europe and Central Asia.

This UNICEF‑led framework outlines a global vision for building strong, coordinated systems that support parents and caregivers throughout children’s lives. It emphasizes a multisectoral, evidence‑based approach to help countries integrate parenting support into health, education, social protection and community services, aiming to improve child well‑being and equity worldwide.

This brief presents findings from programs in Bhutan, Rwanda, Serbia and Zambia. It explains how these parenting interventions are scaled examining enablers, barriers, delivery quality, government adoption, workforce roles, and what works for sustainable expansion of early childhood support.

This plan prioritises enabling all South African children to read for meaning by age ten, emphasising African languages, teacher development, quality reading materials and parent/community engagement. It proposes literacy policy reform, culturally relevant learning resources, structured teacher training, and monitoring to improve foundational reading outcomes nationwide by 2030.

This guide is to help caregivers apply for a child grant even if the child lacks a birth certificate or the caregiver has no ID. It simplifies the process, clarifies requirements, and supports access to essential social assistance for vulnerable families.

This report investigates gaps in maternity and parental benefits for self‑employed workers, especially those in the informal economy. It finds current systems exclude self‑employed parents from social protection, worsening inequality and limiting women’s economic participation. The report explores legal and policy shortcomings, South Africa’s constitutional and international obligations, and proposes how and who should extend maternity and parental benefits to self‑employed workers.

This resource answers common questions national decision‑makers have about introducing and scaling multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS) programmes for pregnant women. It explains practical considerations, evidence, policy issues and challenges countries face as they transition from iron‑folic acid to MMS in antenatal care. The FAQ aims to inform strategy, planning and advocacy to improve maternal nutrition outcomes.