The long years of war in Syria have created great turmoil among hundreds of thousands of children in the north of Syria, as these disturbances threaten their healthy and integrated development, and in order to address these great challenges that occur in their upbringing, and to advance the child scientifically and intellectually; WATAN began implementing its activities through the “Ahlan Simsim” project for the rehabilitation of caregivers, in several centers in northwest Syria.

This project comes within the framework of WATAN’s cooperation with the International Rescue Foundation IRC, and aims to secure a healthy environment that fosters the development and growth of children by working on the three main components of childcare, namely the child, the caregiver and the fostering environment. Therefore, Ahlan Simsim project works on targeting children and parents through a friendly environment, which is represented by the centers of the Ahlan Simsim project, which are equipped to be child-friendly spaces through various models of work, including:

1. 1. Early childhood home awareness sessions for caregivers.
2. 2. WhatsApp groups to discuss early childhood messages with caregivers.
3. 3. Sesame Families sessions directed to caregivers and families, which are carried out in the centers by face to face.
4. 4. High-contact RU&L kits for caregivers and their children aged 6-36 months.
5. Sesame Friends sessions and activities for children aged 3-8 years.

All these interventions aim to:

• Supporting the integrated development of children cognitively, physically, linguistically and socially, by engaging them in studied and planned activities that help their development.
• Integrating people with special needs from caregivers and children in the activities of the project, which helps them to better integrate into society and contribute to its development.
• Enhancing the involvement of men in supporting and developing their children’s comprehensive development.
• Empowering the caregiver with the knowledge and skills to understand and respond to the growth and development needs of his child under 8 years old.
• Improving the caregiver’s skills in responding to emergencies, dealing with the psychological pressures he is exposed to, and taking care of himself and his child.
• Enabling the caregiver to find interesting learning opportunities for his child under the age of 8 years.
• Empowering the caregiver with the knowledge and skills necessary to protect his child from risks and abuse under the age of 8.

During the last month, the project completed the following stages:

• The number of caregivers directly targeted through the Simsim Families Physical Sessions is 108 (54 males + 54 females), all of them IDPs.
• The number of caregivers targeted through home awareness sessions is 192 people (96 males + 96 females), including (161 displaced people + 31 residents).
• The number of caregivers targeted through WhatsApp groups is 78 people (39 males – 39 females), including (73 IDPs + 5 residents).
• The number of children directly targeted is 108 children (68 males + 40 females), all of them internally displaced children.

. The number of children targeted indirectly is about 658 children (353 males + 305 females).

Since the launch of the project in its current phase on 1/1/2022 until the end of August, the following were targeted:

• 396 caregivers (198 males – 198 females) through the direct Simsim families sessions in the center, including (320 IDPs + 76 residents).
• 1224 caregivers (612 males – 612 females) through home awareness sessions, including (943 displaced people + 281 residents), including 26 caregivers with different disabilities.
• 468 caregivers (234 males – 234 females) through WhatsApp groups, including (364 displaced people + 104 residents), including 16 caregivers with disabilities.
• 396 children (231 males + 165 females) through direct sessions at the center, including (320 displaced persons + 76 residents), including 8 children with special needs.
• 3218 children (1,727 males + 1,491 females) indirectly by targeting their relatives.
• 50 teachers were targeted with early childhood training.
• 16 workers in medical centers through a training workshop on early childhood.