The First Years First Priority Campaign is pleased to welcome a new national coalition, represented by the Center for Child Health and Development (CSB – Centro per la Salute del Bambino) from Italy. CSB is a medium-sized non-profit organisation, founded in 1999, that works with parents to ensure that all children have the best possible opportunities for development. The organisation works in Italy and internationally to disseminate programmes for the prevention of educational poverty and the promotion of good practices in the family. They activate local networks of operators and services to contribute to the construction of multisectoral initiatives to support early childhood and parenting.
CSB aims to raise awareness of the importance of the first years of life, and of the interventions that can, if implemented early and continuously, positively influence the development of children, parenting and the contribution to preventing inequalities and educational poverty. CSB works in and offers training courses on early childhood development (ECD), good practices from an early age – such as reading, music, play, massage, responsive nutrition, conscious use of digital technologies – and on the promotion and evaluation of neurodevelopment.
Alongside advocacy work which has yielded some important results in the promotion of shared reading from the first year of life, such as regional and national legislation and investment, CSB believes in the power of alliances and networks as key instruments for effective advocacy work covering the whole range of policies for children and their families.
As part of their advocacy efforts, CSB are members of the two key child rights networks in Italy, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and Alleanza per l’Infanzia. CSB is a very active member in both networks. Currently, they participate in two European projects, 4-E Parent funded by the European Commission and Engaging Men in Nurturing Care (EMiNC), funded by the Oak Foundation. The EMiNC project, led by ISSA, is aimed at promoting father’s involvement in early care and a more equally shared work-life-family balance. This is an area of importance to CSB who have worked with private companies on the issue of father’s involvement and family friendly policies.
