Author: Nicoletta Armstrong

A new training project in the ICDP programme was started in Bondoukou and Tanda, in the Ivory Coast. This is a new initiative by Save the Children (SC).

The Ivory Coast represents the seventh country in which SC are applying the ICDP programme, as a central part of the implementation of SC’s Child Sensitive Social Protection (CSSP) programme.

The new ICDP project will be rolled out by social actors, SC staff and the staff of its Rising Sun partner.

The first ICDP workshop was held in October 2022 and it was conducted by ICDP trainers Alimata Sidibe and Aubin Sanou, who were both trained earlier by Nicoletta Armstrong. Click here to read the workshop report in French.

Update by Line Constance Holmsen, November 2022.

The implementation of ICDP in the care for older persons in Nursing Homes in Norway has been steadily progressing, despite a long period of having to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since 2018, ICDP and the VID Specialized University have been cooperating with the nursing home called “Grefsenhjemmet” situated in Oslo.

The cooperation started with the training and certification of employees who could then facilitate the ICDP courses to their colleagues. So far, more than 70 of their nursing staff have been participating in ICDP courses, including the night nursing staff. 

One of the leaders at Grefsenhjemmet, Ingrid Blokhus, describes the ICDP work in this way:

“ ICDP is a practical course that focuses on relational competence and person-centred care. Our international nursing staff has many unique relational competencies that are valued, and accessed, through the ICDP process. Through active learning and by putting words to practice, these unique competencies are better connected to the Norwegian language, enriching and enhancing the quzlity of the care our residents receive and experience. “  

Photo is showing a group of nursing staff at Grefsenhjemmet in Oslo, including Emilan Barbu, the group facilitator, and Line Constance Holmsen, the representative for ICDP Norway and VID Specialized University.

From the update by two ICDP trainers Klara Schauman-Ahlberg and Petra Zilliacus, who have trained staff from social services in the Åland Islands in Finland, we are informed that twenty people completed their ICDP basic training – see photo above. They received their certificates on the 22nd of November 2022, on the same day as their ICDP colleagues in Helsinki received their trainer diplomas.

“This engaged group of different social professionals in family interventions received, at the same time, the first snow and the final two days of training. We had some wonderful time together, shared many stories and pondered what positive caregiving looks like in practice.” – Petra Zilliacus.

On 22^nd of November 2022, a group of nine Finnish professionals received their ICDP Trainer level diplomas – on photo above.

The training of this new group started in 2021 and it was organized on the initiative of Hanna Sellergren, from the Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters who has been involved with ICDP for many years and who is herself an ICDP trainer.

The new ICDP trainers are currently overseeing the roll out of the ICDP programme by facilitators in Helsinki, Turku, Lahti and Kokkola. The trainers formed over thirty facilitators who in turn are reaching out to over hundred families. This work is taking place under the umbrella of the Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters, an ICDP partner organization with over ten years of ICDP experience –  www.ensijaturvakotienliitto.fi.

This ICDP work is targeting vulnerable families and children, focusing primarily on offering psychosocial assistance to women and their young children who visit or stay at their centres.

The certification workshop was held in the Sopukka centre, situated close to Helsinki and it was held by Nicoletta Armstrong from ICDP, who commented:

“This was a very pleasant workshop, since the whole group showed deep understanding, sensitivity, and enthusiasm for the ICDP programme. They reported about their projects which consisted of providing full ICDP training to new groups of facilitators. This new group of trainers represent a real asset to ICDP. Their professionalism, dynamic participation and sense of fun enriched the workshop and they brought many meaningful examples from their work and private lives. Congratulations to our new team of trainers, we wish you all the best in your future work!”

Pau Gomes, the director of the Emotional Wellbeing Area, at the Nous Cims Foundation, contacted Nicoletta Armstrong, ICDP chair to discuss possible future cooperation. There is interest in learning about ICDP by observing the work of ICDP in European context, and eventually starting projects together in Spain. Both organizations are emphasizing the importance of working on the emotional aspects in human relations and this among other, was a good point of reference in these early discussions.

In addition, there could be plans for shared work in Colombia, a country where both Nous Cims and ICDP operate. As a first step, the ICDP Colombia chair, Carmen Lucia Andreade, met up with Maria Chalaux and Jessica Corpas, from Nous Cims on 16th November. The meeting was held in Bogota, Colombia during which the essential aspects of the ICDP programme were presented, as well as sharing ideas about possible cooperation.

Nous Cims Foundation is a non-profit entity, that was founded in Barcelona, Spain in 2015. It creates and develops innovative, transforming and sustainable social projects in the areas of employability, emotional well-being and global development, with the objective of having an impact on the most vulnerable people, especially women, young people and children, in both the most immediate environment and in emerging countries.

Their mission is: Being a vehicle for generating long-lasting added value by supporting projects that have an impact on people in the areas of employability, emotional well-being and global development for the purpose of contributing to build a better world.

Nous Cims created the KOMTÜ Programme that promotes emotional and relational well-being of children in preschool and primary schools. The aim is to improve the emotional well-being of children by offering training and support to the teaching team over a period of 3 years. They are currently working in 14 schools in Barcelona.

They also have the KOA Programme that works with adolescents in the area of mental health prevention through experiences connected to their interests such as theatre, music, sports and adventure. 

On the 11th of November 2022, ICDP foundation board member and researcher, Ane-Marthe Solheim Skar, gave a presentation at the ICDP Regional conference in Kathmandu. The title of her presentation was, Research on ICDP: Learnings of past and future opportunities.

Click here to read the presentation.

During the second half of 2022, Solveig Kristina Frivold, the mental health coordinator for HimalPartner in East Asia, has been organizing the start up of ICDP in Thailand.

On behalf of ICDP international, a team from ICDP Nepal has agreed to carry out a training programme for a group of facilitators, who were selected from different local organizations and who in turn will be instrumental in spreading ICDP by training groups of caregivers. The first workshop was conducted in September and the second was held in October.

“The training so far was a real success. Interest and passion for the training is growing among the participants. We have four participants from a Thai organization called Nexus. We have started translating the ICDP material to Thai. In our pilot group, we also have two Burmese participants who plan to conduct the caregiver groups in Burmese. So we will be translating the caregiver booklets to Burmese.” – explains Solveig.

One of the HimalPartner’s partner organizations will be selected to coordinate ICDP Thailand.

View this brief video featuring ICDP Thailand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2xlOmDaGbU

The report describes the international celebration which marked 30 years since ICDP was registered as a foundation in Oslo, Norway.

Click here to read it.

Click here to read the report with comments from different participants of the ICDP training in Uzbekistan.

From the report:

Feedback from parents

“During one of my visits to my relative, her baby started to cry, and could not stop; she just, cried and cried. Others who were present tried to make her stop but failed, so I decided to apply ICDP and said: Give the baby to me. As I held the baby in my arms, I started using the things I learned from the ICDP programme. I gently caressed the baby, establishing eye contact, and spoke to her as though she was an adult. Talking with a soft voice I said, I understand you have a stomach ache and it’s hard for you, but do not worry it will pass…. By me following the guidelines of ICDP the baby calmed down and stopped crying.”

“Thank you very much for the comfort and very warm atmosphere, for your invaluable knowledge given to us. For the fact that we began to understand our children better and learned to better cope with their tantrums. Also, thank you for teaching us to look at education from a different angle, to see a personality in children and to bring out the best sides and talents in them so that they can grow up to be self-sufficient and independent people……  At your seminars, I didn’t just gain new knowledge, but also improved myself.”

“I understood even better now how important it is for a child to have a resourceful and stable adult, how important it is for both parents to have a good and to act in the same direction, sometimes supporting and replacing each other. For myself, I am now looking for ways to replenish my resources, and of course I think a lot about how to improve communication in my family.”

The ICDP team in Dakka, Bangladesh, has produced a short promotional video about their work with the ICDP programme, by focusing on comments from some of its local partners. Well done! The video was finalized in October 2022.

Click here to download this video.