The Family Affairs Council has launched the Early Childhood Development Guidance Manual, as the first guideline for the Family Initiative, one of the initiatives of the National Family Strategy, and within the Human Capacity Development Program, one of the programs to achieve Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.

The guide aims to empower parents and caregivers to provide an optimal experience for the child, by monitoring the early childhood stages and providing guidance on how to support children’s development in each of the main areas of development, namely physical, social and emotional development, learning abilities, and communication skills. It also prepares families and caregivers for the end of the early childhood stage and ensures that the child is ready for the transition to school, and the guide includes a guidance chapter for children with disabilities and exposed to violence.

The guide comes as part of the Family Initiative, which aims to strengthen the national identity and family and Islamic values in society, raise awareness about them, provide parents with skills and tools that enable them to maintain a stable and cohesive family, and ensure that family members have access to protection and empowerment services in all regions of the Kingdom through 18 programs aligned with the Human Capacity Development Program.

On this occasion, Dr. Maimuna bint Khalil Al Khalil, Secretary General of the Council, explained that the launch of the Early Childhood Development Guide comes within the Council’s steps to create a supportive environment that responds to the needs of children and develops their capabilities, as 10 of the 18 programs included in the Family Initiative have been dedicated to the child.

She also emphasized that the cooperation with the Human Resources Development Program stems from the fact that the family is the incubator of the human capital components that achieve the development goals, which reinforces the importance of honing the skills of parents and caregivers and providing them with tools to enable them to prepare children for their promising futures.

For her part, the head of the Childhood Committee of the Family Affairs Council, Dr. Shirin Al-Oufi, pointed out that the Early Childhood Development Guidebook aims to enhance family awareness about the stages that children go through from the first day of life until they join the school stage, with the aim of supporting the development of children in all areas of development, which contributes to enhancing their active participation to achieve the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.