Kakuma- May 13, 2025 (Public Communications and Media Relations)
The Department of Health is working with AMREF Health Africa in Kenya to co-create a new program on early child development dubbed Tucheze Tustawi that is funded by the Lego Foundation.
Focussing on play for children’s development, this three-year program (January 2025 – December 2027), targets children between 0 and 3 years of age in Kamukunji Nairobi and Turkana West in Turkana County.
The purpose of the two-day co-creation workshop is to first understand the Early Childhood Development (ECD) status in Turkana County, foster collaborative engagement among stakeholders. This is in order to share insights on play-based ECD interventions that address Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) for the children, their caregivers, health workers, and health systems.
The workshop also enhanced understanding of key socio-cultural considerations that are critical to the effective implementation of project interventions.
Speaking at the workshop, the Chief Officer for Preventive and Promotive Health, Janerose Tioko said that this is the first of its kind AMREF’s programs that focuses on early childhood development.
“Investing in early years is fundamental, it’s the point where life begins,” she said.
Chief Tioko also mentioned added that play is one of the crucial components in a child’s growth as it contributes to a holistic development of a child making them ready to transition to school.
“Mental health is also an aspect of the holistic development for a child’s growth. We have not been able to allocate required finances to this; therefore, this partnership opens doors to supporting the mental well-being of children in their early years,” Chief Tioko stated.
Sharing the program’s highlights and objectives, Herbert Barasa, Family and Reproductive Health Programme Monitoring and Evaluation Lead at AMREF Health Africa, explained that this three-year program has been allocated about Kshs 180M for implementation in both Nairobi and Turkana counties.
“To ensure our children’s well-being, all partners—led by the government—must work together to keep them safe and help them thrive. Therefore, this program not only targets children, but we are also looking at their caregivers, and the systems in place at both county and sub county levels,” he added.
With regards to H.E. the Governor’s Agenda Nine on collaborations and strategic partnerships, this aligns well with the AMREF’s new program in enhancing strategic partners and collaborations.
Chief Tioko explained that the government may not be able to fulfill all goals by themselves stating that, “It is fundamental for us to partner in all these areas even at the sub-County levels, so that our goals may be met and ensure our people feel supported”.
Joel Lochor, the Sub-County Medical Officer of Health in Turkana West, pledged for healthcare workers to be capacity built to understand the aims of this program and be in a better position to accommodate play in their routine.
Encouraging partners to plan projects with the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) in mind, CCO Janerose called for a joint supervision approach to evaluate progress as well as an inclusive problem-solving strategy.
In her closing remarks, she called on partners to consider including nutrition and Early Childhood Education (ECD) components into this program, as well as including children with disabilities who are often neglected denying them access to healthcare services.
This forum brought together county government, healthcare workers based in Turkana West, and representatives from development partner organizations including AMREF Health Africa UNHCR, LWF, IRC, USAID Imarisha Jamii among others.
Other attendees were Dr Joseph Lolepo (Director of Community Health Services), Sarah Akiru (Deputy Director of Policy Planning, M&E and Partnership Coordination), Gabriel Lopodo (Deputy Director of Family Health), and Calis Elamach (Deputy Director Nutrition).
