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DownloadThis report examines the question "How can professional development in learning laboratories enhance professional identity, a holistic perspective approach to education and care (educare) and collaboration among and between core and assisting practitioners within Danish ECEC settings?"Overall, VALUE aims to support diversity and democracy among children through coordination of pedagogical activities and exchange of experiences among and between those working with the children: both core and assisting practitioners. It is assumed that focusing on the conditions for ECEC professionals’ work, such as their expertise and the resources available, will lead to better opportunities for successful collaboration between these groups.

DownloadWorldwide Orphans (WWO) created a learning at home activity manual with 20 activities to do in 20 minutes, targeted for children from 6 months-8 years of age with focus on supporting parent capacity to play with and support their child’s ongoing learning. The activity manual has been rolled out in Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Haiti and Vietnam and translated into the local language within each country.Activities were selected based on:• An understanding that most of our families have limited resources and few toys in the household.• A desire to strengthen the relationship between parent and child through short (20minutes) quality activities.• Selection of play-based learning activities that promote early childhood development, including language, listening, math and problem-solving skills.Maintaining a routine in times of crisis is vital for children. This program consists of 20-minute play sessions that parents/caregivers can do with their children at home using very basic items: a pencil, some paper, a box of crayons or a deck of cards.Training was done via phone call or Zoom with manuals and learning kits distributed to each family. Feedback suggests that parents have appreciated the activity ideas and have been more engaged in their child’s learning and play. The manual is available in the other languages upon request.

Download the toolkit in English Download activity cards in English Download the toolkit in Greek Download activity cards in Greek Download musicThe Toolkit aims to support the work of nursery teachers with young refugee children and their families. It consists the Guidebook with methodological and theoretical guidelines; Activity cards with examples of activities for children under 4 years of age organized in 3 clusters: Welcoming the child = Welcoming the family, Dictionary with key words and phrases in Greek, French, Arabic and Farsi; Belonging and We are all different, we are all equal. It is accompanied with downloadable children’s songs from Syria, Afghanistan, Congo, and Iran played by one of the famous Greek musician Georgos Xaronitis.

Download in Bulgarian Download in Czech Download in English Download in Greek Download in Hungarian Download in Polish Download in Romanian Download in Russian Download in Slovak Download in UkrainianA guidebook which aims to support and inform the work of kindergarten teachers engaged in kindergartens in refugee camps on the Aegean islands, but can also be of help in various kindergarten settings.The guidebook besides hints on how to support kindergarten teachers, addresses topics such as creating safe, well structured, child friendly, and stimulating environments in camps; providing psychosocial support to children and families and dealing with trauma; supporting children who do not speak language of instruction. In the guidebook for each of the topics a set of suggested hands-on activities is provided alongside with theoretical explanations of the rationale behind them. 

DownloadFull Title: Integralno dićhipe sićimašće inkluzijako: ažutipe rane barjarimasko ande funkcija e prevencijako katar o inklistipe andar o sićimasko sistemo ke rromane čhavorra, Integrisani pristup obrazovnoj inkluziji: podrška ranom razvoju u funkciji prevencije napuštanja sistema obrazovanja kod dece romske nacionalnosti.The manual was created within the framework of the "Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in Function of Preventing Dropout and Increase Of Education Attainment of Roma Children in Novi Sad" project, implemented by the Know How Center in partnership with the Center for Social Work of the city of Novi Sad and the City of Novi Sad Education Administration. The project was financially supported by the European Union under the IPA 2013 program - Development of effective community-based services in the field of education and social protection at the local level.The manual “ECEC in function of dropout prevention of Roma children” promotes an integrated local approach to education inclusion of Roma children. The manual can be useful to different stakeholders in different ways: civil society organizations can use it to support similar approaches and professionals in primary and secondary schools can use it to facilitate the implementation of all legal obligations aiming to prevent pupils from dropping out, by the following concrete guidance and implementing inspirational activities at school level. For representatives of social protection, the manual can serve as a guide for working and cooperating with relevant local actors. The manual contains 1) methodology of outreach work in informal Roma settlements, 2) methodology for establishing and working in school dropout prevention teams including action plans and providing psychosocial support to children, and 3) local intersectoral networking model as an example of the noteworthy practice at the local level. 

Buy a digital copyThe book, Professional Learning Communities, provides both the theoretical background and the practical experience as it came about while building Professional Learning Communities in Croatian schools around ISSA’s Definition of Quality Pedagogy and the Quality Resource Pack. The book provides an in depth overview of research and findings that underline the importance of professional development based on teacher's and school’s needs, and how a learning community can be created by teachers through professional collaboration. The book describes all developmental steps of a learning community, offers lessons learned and practical guidelines for activities.Open Academy Step by Step, ISSA’s member organization in Croatia, has worked for many years on developing Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) within preschools and primary schools, as a school-based professional development model using ISSA’s Quality Resource Pack. They developed a training module for teachers who are leaders of learning communities. As a result of their experience, the NGO published the book Professional Learning Communities (PLC) in Croatia, authored by Sanja Brajkovic, at that time Program Director at Open Academy Step by Step.The book, which promotes ISSA’s definition of Quality Pedagogy and the Quality Resource Pack, provides both theoretical background and practical experience in building PLCs in Croatian schools.‘The values of this book are numerous. It provides an overview of research and findings that underline the importance of professional development for teachers based on teacher’s and school’s needs, which teachers create through professional collaboration. Furthermore, the book describes in detail all the steps in the development of a learning community, gives warning of possible problems and provides practical guidelines for activities. Finally, the special value of the book is that it was built on experience in Croatian schools, which confirms the high motivation of our teachers for changing themselves and the school from the "inside."’ (Prof Vlatka Domovic, Reviewer of the book).

Download resource  This Guide will help you get familiar with the collaborative reflective practices of educators working in Early Childhood Education Centres (ECEC) and primary schools. It is intended for both ECEC professionals and leaders interested in finding out more about professional learning communities, how they operate, how different reflective methods help educators and how to set one up in your educational setting.The Guide is developed within the Reflection, Cooperation, Group Support (REC) international project funded by the European Union with the aim of introducing collaborative reflective methods for educators and other professionals working with children aged 0-10 in a total of ten child-care and educational centres in Belgium (Flemish Community), Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia. It is grounded on national experiences of the consortium partners, their collaborative reflective practices in different educational systems (e.g. split and integrated ECEC systems), as well as on international research findings. Through our joint experience, we share the voices of numerous educators who, based on their experiences, advocate for the opportunity to be a part of the reflective group within their comprehensive, supportive and continuous professional development.

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ISSA Member: International Step by Step Association ISSA, partners and members, International What happened? Following the onset of the war in Ukraine, ISSA Members worked to ensure that early childhood interventions were not only delivered but also measured for impact. In several municipalities across Members’ countries, using the Primokiz methodology, local action teams implemented situation analyses, needs assessments, and participatory processes to capture the real effects of their crisis-response work with young children, parents, and practitioners.   What was needed? How did they respond? There was an urgent need for reliable, real-time data to understand how war, displacement, service disruption, and new interventions were affecting young children’s learning, well-being, and access to services.   ISSA Members responded by designing and conducting local situation analyses in municipalities, documenting service availability, capacity gaps, and family needs. In addition, training programs for ECD staff were paired with pre- and post-assessments to measure knowledge gains and inform follow-up support.  Key challenges: Solutions:  By sharing tools, templates, and analysis methods through the ISSA network, Members were able to improve consistency in local monitoring and adapt quickly to emerging needs. This fostered better-informed interventions and enabled some cross-country comparison. ISSA facilitated the exchange of monitoring methodologies among members, provided technical input for designing assessment tools, and supported the inclusion of findings into advocacy at both the municipal and national levels.  What's in place? What's missing? Crisis-response monitoring in participating municipalities benefited from practical tools like pre- and post-assessments and in-depth situation analyses, which fed directly into service improvement. However, without a unified, crisis-specific monitoring framework at the national or cross-country level, data stayed local and varied in quality, limiting the potential for broader learning and systemic change.  Being part of a regional network: Advantages of ISSA membership The introduction of Primokiz in Romania, through collaboration between ISSA, UNICEF, and local authorities, illustrates the advantages of belonging to a regional network. ISSA brings access to tested methodologies, international expertise, and peer exchange that help adapt global models to national contexts. This collaboration turned early childhood planning from a sector, based exercise into a coordinated and participatory process, ensuring that investments are directed where children and families need them most, and where alternative service models can make the greatest impact. Recommendations National policymakers: National decision-makers should view the Primokiz methodology not as a temporary solution but as a strategic tool for rethinking early childhood services. In Romania, its implementation supported by UNICEF and in partnership with local authorities offered an alternative to the classic model of expanding nurseries or kindergartens. Instead, it emphasized cross-sectoral coordination between education, health, and social protection, while engaging communities in planning. Embedding this model into national policies would make services more flexible, locally adapted, and sustainable, reducing inequalities and diversifying the offer beyond traditional infrastructure.  Local/national actors At the local level, Primokiz has shown the power of participatory processes that bring together parents, professionals, and administrations to co-create early childhood strategies. In Romania, municipalities using the methodology identified not only shortages, such as a lack of places in nurseries, but also opportunities to better use existing resources like community centers, schools, or NGO networks. Local actors can leverage this framework to develop alternative services (play centers, parenting programs, targeted support for vulnerable families) that complement and enrich the classical provision of care. Private donors Private donors have a key role in enabling innovation. Their support can fund situation analyses, training for local teams, and pilot initiatives that test new service models. In Romania, flexible donor support made it possible to adapt Primokiz to very different contexts, from large cities to rural communities, generating scalable models. For donors, investing in Primokiz means investing not only in infrastructure but also in the capacity of communities to design and sustain their own solutions for children and families. Professionals/practitioners Teachers, health workers, and social service professionals were directly engaged in the Primokiz process through workshops, focus groups, and participatory assessments. Their involvement improved understanding of each sector’s role and led to practical joint solutions. For practitioners, Primokiz provides an opportunity to make their voices heard in local planning, to work in interdisciplinary teams, and to align interventions more closely with children’s and families’ real needs. This makes services more relevant, responsive, and anchored in everyday realities. ‘"Through the Primokiz process, we discovered that our community already had valuable resources, like cultural centers, that could be adapted to support young children. It changed how we think about planning services." Mayor (Romania)   "For the first time, someone asked us directly what we needed for our children. I felt part of the solution, not just a beneficiary." Parent (Romania)ISSA Member: Partners Hungary Foundation, Hungary   What happened? In February 2022, when Russia invaded…ISSA Member: Trust for Social Achievement and Worldwide Foundation for Vulnerable Children, Bulgaria   **What h…ISSA Member: Step by Step Centre for Education and Professional Development, Romania   What happened? In…

ISSA Member: Ukrainian Step by Step Foundation, Ukraine What happened? Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine in 2022, the Ukrainian Step by Step Foundation (USSF), in collaboration with ISSA and partners, has taken critical action to reinforce early childhood systems amidst the crisis. This effort centred on providing Psychological First Aid (PFA) to children, caregivers, and educators experiencing the trauma of conflict. The initiative included cascade-training so that master trainers could pass on PFA and trauma-informed practices to teachers and caregivers across Ukraine and neighbouring countries.  At the same time, USSF supported several kindergartens to create Centres for young children and families, where through structured yet nurturing play methodologies, children and families were able to process their anxieties, rediscover joy, and lay a foundation for resilience even in the midst of hardship.   What was needed? How did they respond? The pressing need was twofold. First, educators and caregivers required practical tools to support children grappling with trauma, not just for their children' sake, but to safeguard their own mental health. Training in PFA and trauma-informed care was urgently needed to fill critical knowledge gaps in the early childhood workforce.  Second, children and their families needed emotional healing and psychological relief amid disrupted routines, danger, and loss. The Centres for young children and families responded by integrating imaginative play, like focusing on imagined objects, storytelling, and music, into safe spaces. These small but powerful play and learning daily activities became lifelines, offering both momentary relief and deeper pathways to healing and resilience to both young children and parents.  Key challenges: Solutions: What's in place? What's missing? Now, Ukraine’s early childhood system has a strengthened foundation: there are dedicated master trainers across the region delivering sustainable PFA training, and community hubs that model healing through play. The training itself includes built-in support for self-care, and an emerging professional learning community encourages peer support and shared growth.  Yet gaps persist. While cascading models have broadened reach, not all professionals have access to training, coverage remains uneven. Embedding PFA and play-based healing into formal early childhood systems is still underway; without institutional integration in pre- and in-service curricula, these practices risk being temporary. Lastly, many educators continue operating under extreme stress with limited emotional support—sustained resources for self-care, mental health, and professional development are essential to prevent burnout and secure long-term impact. Being part of a regional network: Advantages of ISSA membership  Recommendations National policymakers:  Local/national actors  Private donors  Professionals/practitioners  Explore further: Ukrainian Step by Step Foundation highlights significant impacts of psychological first aid training The Healing Power of Play: A Pathway to ResilienceISSA Member: Partners Hungary Foundation, Hungary   What happened? In February 2022, when Russia invaded…ISSA Member: Trust for Social Achievement and Worldwide Foundation for Vulnerable Children, Bulgaria   **What h…ISSA Member: Step by Step Centre for Education and Professional Development, Romania   What happened? In…

ISSA Member: International Step by Step Association ISSA, partners and members, International What happened? Facing an immediate need for culturally relevant reading materials, ISSA partnered with Save the Children and Amazon to distribute Ukrainian-language storybooks to refugee children across Ukraine, Poland, and Romania.   What was needed? How did they respond? Young Ukrainian refugee children needed access to expressive and comforting content that supported early literacy and emotional well-being in their own language. To address this, ISSA’s Reading Corner series (three Ukrainian-language books) was reproduced and distributed in large quantities. Amazon handled printing and logistics, while Save the Children and ISSA’s Members carried out distribution in the field.  Key challenges: Solutions: What's in place? What's missing? This partnership exemplifies how combining unique strengths, educational content, logistical reach, and field presence creates powerful and immediate impact. It also shows why establishing formal channels for such cooperation is critical to ensure continuity of support when emergencies strike.  Being part of a regional network: Advantages of ISSA membership Being part of ISSA enabled this initiative to move from concept to reality in record time by connecting global partners with trusted local members. The network amplified reach, ensured cultural and contextual adaptation, and turned a corporate–civil society partnership into a regional safety net for children. It demonstrates the power of ISSA as a platform where resources, logistics, and expertise converge to protect learning and well-being in emergencies.  Recommendations National policymakers: Governments should facilitate fast-track import and distribution channels for educational materials in refugee languages during crises. By creating contingency protocols and partnerships with publishers and NGOs, they can ensure that culturally relevant books and learning resources reach children quickly and equitably. Local/national actors Local actors can strengthen impact by identifying distribution points (schools, libraries, hubs, refugee centres) and ensuring that Ukrainian-language resources are integrated into daily educational and psychosocial activities. Collaboration with local schools and kindergartens ensures these materials are not only delivered but also used effectively to support children’s emotional and literacy needs.  Private donors Donors and corporate partners can play a critical role by supporting printing, translation, and logistics at scale. Strategic funding can guarantee that every child has access to culturally resonant books, while corporate logistical expertise (such as Amazon’s example) can significantly reduce time and cost in delivery.  Professionals/practitioners Teachers, caregivers, and social workers can use Ukrainian-language storybooks as tools for both literacy development and emotional healing. Storytime activities, group reading, and parental involvement can strengthen the sense of safety and belonging for children navigating displacement, while also bridging them gradually into host country language learning. Explore Further: Amazon, ISSA, and Save the Children partner to distribute story books in Ukrainian | ISSAISSA Member: Partners Hungary Foundation, Hungary   What happened? In February 2022, when Russia invaded…ISSA Member: Trust for Social Achievement and Worldwide Foundation for Vulnerable Children, Bulgaria   **What h…ISSA Member: Step by Step Centre for Education and Professional Development, Romania   What happened? In…

ISSA Member: International Step by Step Association – ISSA, Cross-Country What happened? Amid the escalating crisis in Ukraine, in the summer of 2022, ISSA launched the Psychological First Aid (PFA) Learning Community to bring together early childhood practitioners, trainers, and professionals from multiple countries. The aim was to create a trusted space where members could exchange experiences, share strategies, and strengthen their ability to provide psychosocial support to children and caregivers affected by emergencies.   What was needed? How did they respond? Frontline practitioners faced the dual pressure of supporting children's and parents’ well-being while managing their own stress and uncertainty. Many lacked access to peer support or a platform for ongoing learning.   ISSA Network Hub, with the support of AMNA and War Child Holland, responded by designing a foundational training on Psychological First Aid and trauma-informed practices, delivering the training to master trainers in several countries (including Ukraine) and hosting regular online meetings with the people trained to mentor them and support them in implementing the training at the country level. Those meetings helped in facilitating knowledge-sharing on adapting PFA in diverse cultural and crisis contexts, discussing challenges and real case scenarios, and finding common strategies to support frontline workers on the ground.  Key challenges: Solutions: What's in place? What's missing? ISSA Network Hub provided the backbone for the community: coordination, facilitation, translation, and access to a wider membership base. The network ensured knowledge reached frontline practitioners quickly and that lessons from one context could inform another.   ISSA’s established network and digital facilitation capacity made it possible to rapidly launch the PFA Learning Community, offering a much-needed peer learning platform during crises. However, without a pre-existing, crisis-specific space for ECD practitioners, early efforts relied heavily on ad hoc connections. This left many frontline workers in Ukraine and hosting countries isolated in the initial stages, without adequate competencies to address the crisis and a mechanism to come together, share, adapt, and co-create solutions across borders.   Recommendations National policymakers: Local/national actors  Private donors  Professionals/practitioners ISSA Member: Partners Hungary Foundation, Hungary   What happened? In February 2022, when Russia invaded…ISSA Member: Trust for Social Achievement and Worldwide Foundation for Vulnerable Children, Bulgaria   **What h…ISSA Member: Step by Step Centre for Education and Professional Development, Romania   What happened? In…

ISSA Member: International Step by Step Association ISSA, International What happened? In emergencies, funding for and attention to early childhood development (ECD) are often limited and fragmented. Over half of humanitarian responses focus on immediate needs—such as food or shelter—while neglecting the deeper developmental, learning, and psychosocial needs of the youngest children and their caregivers. Recognising this gap, ISSA leveraged its regional network advantage, i.e., its capacity to act swiftly through interconnected partnerships, to implement a coordinated, multi-sector response for young children affected by the war in Ukraine. This approach was deployed through collaborative streams of action involving War Child Holland, Amna Refugee Healing Network, UNICEF’s ECARO office, and the Minderoo Foundation.   What was needed? How did they respond? Young children in conflict zones require more than basic relief; they need integrated support that combines psychosocial care, learning, inclusion, mapping of services, and strategic coordination across sectors and levels of governance. To answer this, ISSA activated five strategic streams of actions:   Key challenges: Solutions: ISSA’s network-centric model proved uniquely effective. Rapid mobilisation of expertise and resources, integrated local strategies, and adaptable programming enabled strategic responses when they were needed most. Each of the five action streams translated into tangible outcomes like capacitated professionals, cohesive local planning, inclusive services, community-driven inclusion, and stronger advocacy and learning platforms   What emerged clearly is that interagency coordination is not optional but foundational. Fragmented funding and siloed approaches severely limit ECD’s effectiveness in crises. A coordinated response, from skilled workforce development to inclusive programming and strategic advocacy, yields resilience and amplifies impact. ISSA’s model shows how leveraging network advantage makes complex, integrated ECD response viable and rapid.  What's in place?   What's missing?  Recommendations National policymakers: Local/national actors Private donors  Professionals/practitioners  Explore Further: The ISSA Network Advantage - Prioritizing young children's development in emergenciesISSA Member: Partners Hungary Foundation, Hungary   What happened? In February 2022, when Russia invaded…ISSA Member: Trust for Social Achievement and Worldwide Foundation for Vulnerable Children, Bulgaria   **What h…ISSA Member: Step by Step Centre for Education and Professional Development, Romania   What happened? In…

ISSA Member: AMURTEL, Romania What happened? At the Ukraine-Romania border in Siret, AMURTEL Romania recognised a gap: while many agencies provided physical aid to refugees, few addressed children’s and families’ emotional well-being.   What was needed? How did they respond? To nurture collective resilience and care, AMURTEL provided Psychological First Aid (PFA) to refugee children and parents. Led by a trained emergency psychologist, the team offered empathetic, immediate emotional support tailored to diverse family needs. They also adapted therapeutic storytelling methods, developed in Lebanon, into translated resources for Ukrainian families.  Key challenges: Young children and parents arrived traumatised, but resources focused on basic needs left psychosocial care unmet.  Solutions:  AMURTEL’s community-based approach relied on local coordination and cultural relevance. Rather than importing methods, they crafted psychological and healing support rooted in community networks, storytelling, and empathetic presence, creating a new type of emotional safety space at the border.  What's in place? What's missing? AMURTEL’s approach underscores the power of community-rooted healing during crisis, mobilising compassionate Psychological First Aid and culturally resonant storytelling to foster resilience. But without wider institutional adoption of such practices, community-based healing remains inconsistent across regions.  Recommendations National policymakers: Local/national actors Private donors Professionals/practitioners  Explore Further: AMURTEL Romania provides psychological first aid to refugee children and parents | ISSA therapeutic-stories.amurtel.roISSA Member: Partners Hungary Foundation, Hungary   What happened? In February 2022, when Russia invaded…ISSA Member: Trust for Social Achievement and Worldwide Foundation for Vulnerable Children, Bulgaria   **What h…ISSA Member: Step by Step Centre for Education and Professional Development, Romania   What happened? In…

ISSA Member: For Our Children Foundation and Step by Step Center for Education and Professional Development, Bulgaria & Romania What happened? Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria saw the arrival of large numbers of refugee families with young children. Many of these children had experienced distressing events, and their caregivers were under significant stress. Early childhood professionals, while committed to supporting them, often lacked training in trauma-sensitive approaches that could help children feel safe, understood, and supported.   What was needed? How did they respond? As the war in Ukraine continued, many young refugee children in Romania and Bulgaria were showing signs of stress, anxiety, and trauma. Early childhood professionals working with them often lacked the skills to recognise these signs or to respond in ways that could create a sense of safety and support.   In Romania, the Step by Step Center for Education and Professional Development (CEPD) delivered Psychological First Aid (PFA) training to 450 preschool and primary school educators. The training equipped them to identify trauma signals, create safe and supportive learning environments, and manage their own stress while working with displaced children.   In Bulgaria, the For Our Children Foundation organised PFA cascade training in the country’s five largest cities. They trained 103 master trainers, who in turn provided foundational PFA training for local professionals working directly with children and families. This approach allowed the skills and tools to be shared quickly across different regions, ensuring a wider reach within the existing ECD workforce.  Key challenges: Solutions: What's in place? What's missing? These trainings in Romania and Bulgaria show that targeted, rapid capacity building can significantly improve professionals’ ability to respond to the emotional needs of children affected by crisis. However, embedding PFA and trauma-informed training into pre-service and in-service training curricula at the national level is essential to make such support universally available.  Being part of a regional network: Advantages of ISSA membership Being part of ISSA enabled both CEPD in Romania and For Our Children in Bulgaria to quickly access tested methodologies, adapt them to local contexts, and cascade them across their networks. ISSA’s regional platform turned individual initiatives into a coordinated response, showing the power of collective action in strengthening resilience and child protection systems. Recommendations National policymakers: Authorities should formally integrate Psychological First Aid (PFA) and community-based psychosocial support into emergency response frameworks. This means ensuring that mental health is considered a basic service alongside food and shelter, allocating funds for early interventions, and supporting national dissemination of therapeutic storytelling and similar culturally adapted tools. Local/national actors Local actors can scale Psychological First Aid training to staff and volunteer, creating safe spaces for children and families, and adapting resources like therapeutic stories to their communities. Coordination with schools, social services, and NGOs will help ensure continuity and prevent psychosocial support from being fragmented or overlooked. Private donors Donors can sustain impact by investing in training, resource development, and translation of psychosocial materials. Flexible funding for community-based mental health programs allows quick adaptation to evolving needs, while supporting innovation such as storytelling or play therapy ensures interventions remain child-centered and accessible. Professionals/practitioners Teachers, caregivers, and psychologists can integrate simple PFA techniques into daily interactions, use therapeutic storytelling as a classroom or family resource, and create spaces of empathy for refugee and local children alike. Practitioners can also serve as multipliers by mentoring peers and embedding these approaches in everyday practice. Explore further: Psychological First Aid Training in Romania: Creating a Climate of Safety and Support Bulgaria’s five largest cities receive psychosocial support trainingISSA Member: Partners Hungary Foundation, Hungary   What happened? In February 2022, when Russia invaded…ISSA Member: Trust for Social Achievement and Worldwide Foundation for Vulnerable Children, Bulgaria   **What h…ISSA Member: Step by Step Centre for Education and Professional Development, Romania   What happened? In…

ISSA Member: ASAM, Türkiye What happened? The February 6th, 2023, earthquakes severely impacted multiple provinces in Türkiye, displacing hundreds of thousands of people. Many families relocated to temporary or semi-permanent settlements, with disrupted access to early learning, psychosocial support, and community networks.   What was needed? How did they respond? Children and caregivers in earthquake-affected areas needed accessible spaces for safe learning, emotional recovery, and community connection -particularly in contexts of displacement where formal services were slow to return.   Through its Early Childhood Education (ECE) program with UNICEF, ASAM provided services to 2,900 children across 26 facilities in 15 provinces, including earthquake-affected areas. These facilities served both refugee and host community children and families, ensuring inclusivity and social cohesion in shared spaces. Community hubs embedded within these facilities offered psychosocial support, structured activities, and caregiver engagement. Since January 2025, ASAM has expanded enrolment by another 600 children, sustaining and scaling support to affected communities. Three years after the earthquake, ASAM continues to maintain its presence in the affected provinces, delivering inclusive services to both host and refugee communities as part of the ongoing recovery efforts. Key challenges: Solutions:What's in place? What's missing? ASAM’s pre-existing community-based approach provided a foundation for rapid service continuation, but scaling capacity was critical to meet the surge in demand after the earthquakes.  Being part of a regional network: Advantages of ISSA membership Membership in ISSA provides ASAM with access to a peer community of organisations across Europe and Central Asia, enabling:  Recommendations National policymakers:  Local/national actors  Private donors  Professionals/practitioners ISSA Member: Partners Hungary Foundation, Hungary   What happened? In February 2022, when Russia invaded…ISSA Member: Trust for Social Achievement and Worldwide Foundation for Vulnerable Children, Bulgaria   **What h…ISSA Member: Step by Step Centre for Education and Professional Development, Romania   What happened? In…

ISSA Member: Step by Step Albania, Albania What happened? In early 2020, when COVID-19 lockdowns were announced in Albania, Step by Step Albania faced an extraordinary challenge: ECEC services had to pivot quickly with no warning. Educators were forced to shift to remote teaching without any national support or training infrastructure.   What was needed? How did they respond? Educators needed immediate guidance, not just on technical aspects of virtual teaching, but also on coping with stress and uncertainty. In response, Step by Step Albania provided holistic support such as webinars and learning resources that addressed both digital migration (e.g., Zoom, Google Classroom) and the emotional impact of sudden change. This included tools to deal with stress, anxiety, and maintain community through distance.  Key challenges: Solutions: Step by Step Albania supported peer networking among educators, inviting them to share experiences and support each other emotionally during the crisis. Young volunteers helped bridge digital literacy gaps, especially in Roma communities. These efforts strengthened social cohesion and fostered mutual care among staff and communities.  What's in place? What's missing? Step by Step Albania showed how rapid, empathetic, blended training can support educators’ skills and emotional resilience in crisis. But because there’s no embedded system for educator support or blended pedagogy in emergencies, the positive effects remain confined to areas NGOs can reach. Embedding ECD workforce well-being into national preparedness is essential for consistent, long-term workforce resilience.  Recommendations National policymakers:  Local/national actors  Private donors  Professionals/practitioners Explore further: Blended Learning is the Apex of Education Nowadays | ISSAISSA Member: Partners Hungary Foundation, Hungary   What happened? In February 2022, when Russia invaded…ISSA Member: Trust for Social Achievement and Worldwide Foundation for Vulnerable Children, Bulgaria   **What h…ISSA Member: Step by Step Centre for Education and Professional Development, Romania   What happened? In…

ISSA Member: Amna Refugee Healing Network, Greece What happened? When COVID-19 lockdowns began in March 2020, in-person sessions at Baytna, a trauma-informed early childhood development program run by Refugee Trauma Initiative (currently renamed AMNA) in Greece, were abruptly halted. Baytna operated across five sites (Athens, Thessaloniki, Polikastro, and Katerini) and primarily served refugee children and their caregivers through in-person, trauma- and identity-informed activities.   What was needed? How did they respond? With centres closed, AMNA needed a way to keep supporting families emotionally and socially from a distance. In response, Amna quickly pivoted to find ways to ensure continuity of services for refugee families, for whom many other essential services stopped. This included a variety of different types of responses, for different teams dependent on their contexts. Two teams developed a mobile home visiting service where they took Baytna to the doorsteps of families. One team provided online Baytna sessions with their facilitators and provided data packs to ensure access without additional cost. One team called each family each week to check on their wellbeing. Collectively all the partners together created “Baytna-inspired” audio & visual resources with storytelling, sing-alongs, movement activities and activity guides that caregivers and children can do together at homes or in camp settings. These activity ideas were designed to be accessible (requiring simple household materials), age-appropriate, and emotionally supportive. They were translated into multiple languages and shared via phone messages, social media, and partner networks. Resources were available in video, audio and PDF to meet the different accessibility capacities of partners. And these were all produced by the Amna and partner Baytna teams and a video and sound editor on a small budget but to ensure immediate accessibility. Key challenges: Solutions: What's in place? What's missing? AMNA’s remote psychosocial support during COVID-19 kept Baytna’s trauma-informed, nurturing care alive in homes despite enforced lockdowns. While the response showcases the power of flexible, layered mental health services, it also reveals a gap, without institutional mechanisms for remote psychosocial care, such critical support remains vulnerable to disruption during emergencies.  Being part of a regional network: Advantages of ISSA membership Being part of a regional network such as ISSA allowed Amna to share its resources beyond its Baytna partners and communities. This facilitated access to a wider audience, ensured that more communities benefited from the materials, and encouraged meaningful interaction with the resources. Participation in the network enabled rapid knowledge exchange, amplification of good practice, and a stronger collective response to the challenges presented by the crisis. Recommendations National policymakers: National policymakers should establish contingency plans for early childhood development and psychosocial support services to ensure continuity of care during crises such as pandemics. Emergency public funds should be allocated to sustain mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) programming remotely, including the provision of internet and data access for vulnerable families. Remote MHPSS protocols should be embedded into national child protection and health frameworks so that families continue to receive support during periods of disruption. Local/national actors Local and national actors should strengthen collaboration with community-based organisations and frontline practitioners to enable rapid adaptation of programmes during crises. Investment should be made in staff training for remote facilitation and psychosocial first aid. Organisations should also develop and maintain low-tech, multilingual materials that can be quickly disseminated in emergencies, using trusted community channels to reach families with limited connectivity. Private donors Private donors should provide flexible, trust-based funding to implementing partners responding to crises. Immediate funding allows local communities to respond quickly, minimise trauma, and prevent longer-term physical and emotional harm. Sustained support enables partners to mobilise resources effectively and meet urgent needs during emergencies. Professionals/practitioners Professionals and practitioners should ensure that communities are not left unsupported during crises. They should find creative ways to maintain contact, such as through phone calls, safe home visits, audio-visual content, and social media channels. These efforts can provide reassurance, emotional support, and structured engagement for vulnerable children and families when in-person activities are not possible. ISSA Member: Partners Hungary Foundation, Hungary   What happened? In February 2022, when Russia invaded…ISSA Member: Trust for Social Achievement and Worldwide Foundation for Vulnerable Children, Bulgaria   **What h…ISSA Member: Step by Step Centre for Education and Professional Development, Romania   What happened? In…