Holistic Care Initiative for Vulnerable Children in Partnership with Public Health Professionals and Local Rural Women Entrepreneurs

Holistic Care Initiative for Vulnerable Children in Partnership with Public Health Professionals and Local Rural Women Entrepreneurs

“Children are not the face of the pandemic. But they risk being among its biggest victims.” This statement from a UNICEF policy brief made in March 2020 encapsulated what we were seeing in the field during the early months of the pandemic, and what we continue to see more than one year on. What started as a public health crisis has set off multiple crises – a learning crisis, an economic crisis, a nutritional crisis and a mental health crisis. And the impact of these crises is distributed unequally – the most vulnerable children are bearing the brunt of this pandemic as it compounds existing socioeconomic inequities.

Shanti Ashram and ICPH saw an urgent need to collaborate with local partners to ensure that holistic care was provided to our vulnerable children. The three areas of focus for this initiative have been: