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For more information:

Arjen LaanCountry Director

D-19 Angkor Shopping Arcade,

National Road No.6,

Siem Reap Province, Cambodia

Office: + (855) (0)63 763 528

Fax: +855 (0)63 763 529

Mobile: +855 (0)92 225 275

E-mail: arjen.laan@icsasia.org

Skype: arjen.laan71

Maaike StolteICS Program Manager

Smallepad 32

3811 MG Amersfoort

The Netherlands

Office:+ 31 33 303 0250

Mobile:+ 316 42 40 26 04

E-mail: maaike.stolte@ics.nl

Skype: maaike.stolte

Check our website for all our activities: www.ics.nl

CAMBODIA

SKILLFUL PARENTING

PREVENTION OF

VIOLENCE AGAINST

WOMEN & CHILDRENParenting and Childhood are strongly influenced byculture, history and other contextual factors, so the ICS

skillful parenting method does not preach the best way

to parenting. It does not want to tell p arents this is how

you have to do it but rather wants to help parents in

their task of raising children in a pluralistic and changing

society by providing them with the knowledge and skills

to choose what works best for them and their family. Theprogram specifically and unequivocally recognizes and

respects each parents right to set his/her own norms

and standards to raise their own children in the way that

is appropriate for them.

Implementation

ICS uses a multitude of strategies to implement skillful

parenting in Cambodia.

!Skillful Parenting is implemented by ICS itself in thecommunities and in close collaboration with local

NGOs & CBOs, the Royal Government of Cambodia

and other stakeholders.

@A crucial factor in the success of the program is the

quality of facilitation, so ICS provides training of fa-

cilitators throughout Cambodia to effectively deliver

the skillful parenting program in their communities.

Organizations that are interested to integrate skillful

parenting in their programs can contact ICS about

this training service.

# ICS seeks partnerships with key actors on parenting in

Cambodia to ensure knowledge on Skillful parenting

becomes embedded in Cambodian society on the

long-term.

These strategies are constantly evolving as ICS is

always looking for new innovative partnerships and

opportunities to reach out to more parents with skillful

parenting in (and outside) of Cambodia.

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ICS (Investing in Children andtheir Societies) strives towardsa better future for children inrural Africa and Asia. Through

its projects and programs, it builds on a sustainablegrowth in welfare and wellbeing by simultaneously

investing in economic and social opportunities andneeds. The central building blocks of the work ofICS are social business, child protection and skillfulparenting.

Skillful Parenting

ICS changes the lives of children living in poor rural

areas by enhancing the parental skills of their caregivers.

Following the recommendations of a UN study on

violence against children (Pinheiro, P.S., The United

Nations Study on Violence against Children, 2006,

Geneva), ICS believes that parents need to feel the

Power to Parent to change the future of their children

in a positive way. By working with them on how to

become a better parent, the Skillful Parenting Approach

of ICS adds to prevent child abuse, neglect and family

disintegration.

Violence against women and children are major concerns

in Cambodia. International and national research has

shown that parenting programs can play an important

role in the prevention of violence against women and

children. The family forms the basic protective unit

for children. It is within the family that children are

taught morals and responsibilities that will enable them

go through life. Furthermore a positive parent-child

relationship and positive parenting styles can buffer the

effects of family and community influences on children's

development, including violent behaviour later in life.ICS beliefs all parents are capable of raising their

children. However many Cambodian families are faced

with difficult challenges on a daily basis, causing stress

and negatively influencing their capacity to parent. By

increasing parents' understanding of child development,

good communication skills and non-violent parenting

practices, family relationships can be strengthened,

providing children with healthy, non-violent and safe

home environments to grow up in. In addition ICS

devotes particular attention to prevention of gender-

based violence by promoting a healthy dialogue with

both fathers and mothers on their roles, responsibilities,

gender norms and values within the family. By building

positive partnerships and parenting practices parents

become positive role models for their children and can

break the intergenerational transmission of violence.

The behaviour change model regarding SkillfulParenting (figure 1) is based upon a positive approach to

parenting, and the support towards parents to be critical

and aware about their parenting role. Furthermore, it

is built upon the evidence based understanding that

change will only take place if parents are convinced of

the need for change and of their capacity to change.

In the ICS model, both internal and external factors are

being analyzed and discussed. In the developmentof the model ICS cooperated with Proud2Be

(www.proud2b.org) and A+B=3 (www.AandBmake3.com).

ICS will continue to cooperate with other organizations

in development of other relevant modules.

Under guidance of a professional facilitator skillful

parenting is provided to parent peer groups, consisting

of fathers, mothers and other caregivers. The facilitators

addresses eight basic parenting topics (figure 2) in

different sessions geared towards providing parents

with basic knowledge and opportunities for social

comparison and joint reflection. The exact number and

content of the sessions is tailored to the characteristics,

needs and interest of each specific group of parents.

ICS believes in the power of combining different

interventions that address the complex interplaybetween individual, relationship, community, andsocietal factors. The work with parent peer groups is

combined with wider community awareness-raising

campaigns and individual follow-up. Furthermore ICS

always seeks opportunities to embed skillful parenting in

wider programs, like efforts on child protection systems

building, coordinated prevention of violence, saving for

change and the ICS Social Business interventions.

CAMBODIA - SKILLFUL PARENTING

Attitudes

Current parenting based

on culteral religious &

societal context

External factors;

community leaders and

i.e. education actors

Skillful parenting

(changed behaviour)

Awareness Raising

campaigns

Knowledge on skillful

parenting

Social comparison and

joint reflection

Willingness

Intention to change

Belief in self-efficacy

figure 1

Translate to local

situationParent PeerGroups (20)

Community BasedOrganization (CBO)

Representative (3)

local leadership/government

Basic Skillful Parenting Modules

p

Roles &responsibilities Self esteem

Values

Positivediscipline

Familyrelations

and communi-cation

Anger &Conflict

managementin the family

Childprotection

Familybudgeting

HOW OUR SKILLFUL PARENTING APPROACH WORKS

Skills development topics on: Positive

discipline, Family relations and

communication, Anger & Conflict

management, Child protection,

Family budgeting

Parenting peer groups

& Thematic modules:

Roles & responsibilities,Self esteem, Values

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