Description
In Bacau county the families are affected by severe poverty, lack of education, lack of jobs and family and social violence. Because of that the relation child - parent goes in the wrong direction as inadequate parenting attitudes and practices. The main objective of this project is to reduce poverty and social inequalities in 8 communities from Bacau county through improving the relations between parents and children and creating a network which support and facilitate the development of good parents - children relations. This project is implemented in partnership with SOS Children's Villages Norway and Oslo Municipality, both with large experience in promoting new models in working with disadvantaged communities. Through this project we want to introduce in Romania a new model (ICDP) witch is based on child - parent interaction. The main beneficiaries of the project will be local specialists from social field, communities' members, children and parents. Collaboration through this project will strengthen the working relation between all the partners.
Summary of project results
Through the project "International Child Development Program - strategy to prevent inequalities, social and family violence – Investing in children, developing parents", SOS Children's Villages Romania have introduced in Romania a new parental education model (ICDP model) which is based on child-parent interaction. Interaction is seen in the frame of a community and requires a supporting network aimed to facilitate and encourage positive relationships. The project was implemented in eight villages at the level of Bacau County which are characterized by poverty, unemployment, domestic violence, uninformed parents regarding their rights and inadequate parenting attitudes and practices. The project’s activities were addressed to specialists in order to support them in acquiring new skills and knowledge in working with children and parents as well as to community members and public authorities for increasing responsiveness and mobilization to reduce inequalities and violence against children. Thus, during the project implementation a total number of 64 specialists were informed about ICDP method; 15 became ICDP facilitators and 5 of them obtained the diploma for ICDP trainer. Also, 60 members of the community consultative structures had the opportunity to attend training sessions focused on analyzing the needs for social services and drafted eight local action plans. Within the project there were organized 15 educational parental groups based on ICDP method and 119 parents attended these trainings. They gained more self-confidence and increased their capacity to mobilize their resources in order to become self-sustainable. ICDP project was a great opportunity for strengthening the existing partnerships between the organization, local authorities and foreign partners and for initiating new partnerships to support children and their families in order to prevent child separation from the family of origin.
Summary of bilateral results
Regarding the main achievements on the bilateral level: In this project the partners had the opportunity to know better the main activities that SOS Children’s Villages Romania does, the beneficiaries and their real problems, the projects that were implemented in this period of time and the great results that they have. Also, both partners had the possibility to know better Romania, to see the positive and negative aspects and to shape their own opinions. During the visit they found out a lot of things about Roma people and how to work with them and better respond to their needs. Also, the partners had the opportunity to share experiences and different information about their work and possible solutions for the problems which SOS Children’s Villages Romania are facing. SOS Children’s Villages Romania had the possibility to share their experience but also to learn new ways/approaches in order to face different challenges and how to better approach the public sector/the public institutions and create fruitful partnerships in the best interest of the child.