Early Childhood Care and Development In Rural and Urban Settings in Kenya

Abstract

Informal childcare centers have sprung up to meet the growing demand for child care in urban informal settlements. This has resulted from the significant increase in the number of women engaging in paid employment outside the home. However, childcare providers running these centers have little or no training and the facilities are below standard. This situation puts the children under the paid care facilities at risk for poor health and development outcomes. Community health teams which consist of Community Health Assistants (CHAs) and Community Health Volunteers (CHVs), are a considerable asset within urban areas in Kenya. These teams that are facilitated under the management of the local county governments, attend to the health and wellness of the communities. Our study aimed to co-design and test the feasibility of a system for supportive assessment and skill-building of childcare providers with the support of CHVs. The long-term vision of the project is to improve the quality of paid childcare for children in poor urban settings.