News

Marking International Roma Day with the CHAVORE Quest

This year, we are marking the day with the launch of the CHAVORE Quest, an interactive, multilingual experience available in five CHAVORE languages. The Quest introduces a new way of supporting children’s mental health, well-being, and inclusion inviting users to explore, reflect, and learn through a more playful and participatory format.

SERVICE UPDATE - Website Upgrade, Early Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd.

Dear Visitor,Due to a system upgrade, the ISSA website may not be (fully) available coming Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd of June from 08.00 to 09.00 hrs CET.Our apologies for the inconveniences. The ISSA Secretariat.

NEWS - June is UK Romani History Month

Celebrating the Romani culture: Activities in (pre)school classrooms all over the United Kingdom Gypsy, Roma & Traveller History Month, is intended to be celebrated by all children, regardless of their origins and ethnicity, and is an…

PEER LEARNING ACTIVITY - 'Green Play & Learning' by SARDES

Young children love nature. Nature and natural materials are a rich source for playing, learning and exploring. Early childhood is also an optimal time to develop life-long ecological values and habits, as well as facilitating a…

CALL FOR ACTION – Save a mobile library in Macedonia

June 1, 2018 As many ISSA members in Eastern Europe celebrate Children’s Day today, the reality of funding limitations for programs that support young children underscores the festivities. Funding cuts often hit the most essential programs—the very…

NEWS - Crnik in Macedonia is Something to Talk About!

'Common goal helps strengthen community.' Crnik is a small village in Macedonia, relatively close to the Bulgarian border: at equal distance from both Skopje and Sofia. It has a multiethnic population made-up of Turks, Roma and Macedonians. All of…

EDITORIAL - A Clear Compass for a Forgotten People (longread)

‘At REYN, we aim to break through the negative cycle’ In the late nineties of the previous century, finally social workers – both Roma and non-Roma - managed to raise awareness to improve and cultivate the inclusion of Roma and Traveller families…

NEWS - REYN Advocates visit Roma Settlement in Sofia

The coordinator of REYN Bulgaria, Trust for Social Achievement (TSA), organized a grand meeting and see through in the Fakulteta Settlement outside Sofia. Fakulteta is one of the largest Roma settlements in Europe. An estimated number between 25.000…

NEWS - Nurturing Care Framework launched at World Health Assembly

Geneva, May 23, 2018 - Investing in early childhood development (ECD) is one of the best investments a country can make to boost economic growth, promote peaceful and sustainable societies, and eliminate inequality. To develop to their full…

5 Steps to Quality – A word with ECEC Expert Ankie Vandekerckhove

Ankie, you’ve been a strong voice in European advocacy for the improvement of Early Childhood Development in the past decades. What has improved and what needs improvement still? First of all, I prefer talking about Early Childhood Education and…

5 Steps to Quality – A word with ECEC Expert Anke van Keulen

Anke, you have developed trainings, tools and methodologies for the Early Childhood Development field for some time. What is so different or new about the 5 Steps to Quality Training that it needs our attention? ‘It is an interesting question…

New Publication - Early Childhood Interventions against Domestic Violence

Though intimate partner violence and violence against children share a number of common causes, many responses to intimate partner violence and violence against children are siloed – with different programs informed by separate data. A compelling…

New Publication - Responding to Needs of Child Refugees and Asylum Seekers in EU and US

In Europe and North America, the arrival of heightened numbers of refugees and asylum seekers in recent years has challenged the ability of governments and service providers to both meet initial reception needs and provide effective long-term…

Liana Ghent - 'European Quality Framework within Arm’s Length'

Leiden – 8 May 2018 – For the first time, ISSA is offering the European Quality Framework as a training. Last year ISSA organized a very successful Peer Learning Activity about the Framework for their member organizations. Following all positive…

Consultant (Ukraine) wanted for development Transitional Models

Ukrainian Step by Step Foundation seeks a consultant for transition models for one of its programs. The focus of the assignment will be to help ascertain a shift from a system of childhood intervention, to inclusive early education. ProgramThe OSF-…

5 Steps to Quality – A word with ISSA's Program Director Mihaela Ionescu

In the past years, ISSA supported two member driven Peer Learning Activities based on the European Quality Framework. Now ISSA offers a first time training on the subject. What triggered the decision? ‘There are several reasons: we believe that…

TOY for inclusion inspires young children in Belgium

Playing, reading and drawing is highly beneficial for the development of young children. In a lovely video produced within the TOY for Inclusion project, we see learning activities organized in Ghent, Belgium, by ISSA member the …

Great News! Global Digital Library to help overcome illiteracy!

Take note of this great news brought to ISSA by the UNICEF Education Team! An estimated 600 million children & adolescents are not learning to read sufficiently. To help overcome this, the Global Digital Library aims to make learning to read…

Mihaela Ionescu shines a light on Integrated Services

Recently, ISSA’s Program Director, Mihaela Ionescu was interviewed by Primeros Pasos about the integrated services approach. The discussion emphasized the need for multi-sectoral, integrated interventions that enable nurturing environments…

ISSA highlighted as an innovative network in new OECD publication

A new publication from the OECD entitled "Teachers as Designers of Learning Environments: The Importance of Innovative Pedagogies" features the role of the ISSA, as a network, and of fours of its members with their national networks for cultivating…

Sardes launches new publication on caring fathers

In interaction with external parties about the caring and upbringing of young children, Dutch fathers often feel neglected. And it turns out that, in fact, they are. In the Netherlands, Sardes found that (public) services, such as child health…

A day at the “Scuolina” with young children in Italy

These days Associazione 21 Luglio is creating new magical experiences for children and parents attending the “Scuolina” (little school), a BAMBINI AL CENTRO project. The “Scuolina” has been organizing several activities in the disadvantaged…

ISSA’s Home Visiting modules featured in international journal

We are happy to see our Resource Modules for Home Visitors: Supporting Families for Nurturing Care featured on the ZERO TO THREE journal. ZERO TO THREE is a large US organization known internationally for their efforts and campaigns promoting babies…

A practical guide for child protection in the early years

Eunice Lumsden, Head of Early Years at the University of Northampton in the UK, has written a new book aimed at providing information to early childhood professionals on how to create safe, supportive environments for young children who have faced…

City of Ghent develops a mobile child care center

Photo Courtesy of the Child Care Unit, City of Ghent In response to the needs of vunerable families, the Child Care Unit of the City of Ghent has created an innovative solution—a POP UP childcare center. This childcare center can be moved and…