The Afaq Project is implemented by Palestinian Vision and funded by Save the Children in the governorates of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, and Nablus. The project aims to enhance the quality of early childhood services, strengthen the capacities of early childhood educators, and ensure safe, nurturing, and stimulating environments for young children.
The project commenced with a needs assessment of early childhood centres in the targeted governorates. The findings served as the foundation for shaping the project’s interventions and activities in response to the identified needs of centres, children, educators, and parents, while remaining aligned with the local context and the prevailing challenges within the early childhood sector.
Working in partnership with 28 early childhood centres across the four governorates, the project supports children, educators, and parents as an integrated system. It delivers 28 recreational and interactive activity days with broad community participation, reaching approximately 2,800 children. This contributes to expanding outreach and strengthening nurseries’ engagement within their surrounding communities. In addition, the project develops safe, interactive educational games within nurseries to support four key developmental domains: cognitive, language, social, and physical development.
A total of 84 educators participate in a series of trainings and mentoring visits aimed at promoting positive, child-centred educational practices, alongside eight psychosocial well-being sessions that support their mental health and ability to sustain their work. The project also delivers 112 awareness-raising workshops for parents and caregivers, reaching more than 1,500 participants. Furthermore, 65 volunteer activities are carried out with the participation of over 1,000 community members within nurseries, strengthening family–nursery partnerships and fostering greater engagement and mutual trust.
The project also distributes educational materials and tools to the targeted nurseries, contributing to the development of play- and exploration based learning environments.
The Afaq Project underscores that investment in early childhood is an investment in a safer and more just future, one that begins in the earliest years of a child’s life and generates sustainable positive impact extending to families and the wider community.
