Partnering with the Department of Health in Can Tho – Soc Trang province: Joining Hands for Children’s Health and Early Childhood Development

On September 9, 2025, the project team held an important working session with the Department of Health in Can Tho – Soc Trang to discuss and align on plans for implementing a program that supports early childhood development through positive parenting training. This marks a key starting point for the project, laying the foundation for sustainable collaboration with local authorities.

Key Discussion Points

During the session, project representatives, together with leaders and technical staff from the Department of Health, focused on:

• Assessing the current situation of child health and development in both provinces, with particular attention to the Khmer ethnic minority community.

• Identifying priority needs: maternal and child health care in the first 2,000 days of life, and raising parental awareness of positive parenting practices.

• Planning for collaboration: training healthcare workers at provincial, district, and commune levels; providing monitoring and community-based support.

Significance of the Partnership

The involvement of the Department of Health in Soc Trang is crucial to ensuring that the project is not just a short-term intervention, but one that is firmly integrated into the grassroots health system. This cooperation will help:

• Align program activities with the real needs of each locality.

• Ensure wide-reaching and sustainable impact across communities.

• Build a solid foundation for children’s health and early childhood development.

Looking Ahead

Both parties agreed to maintain close coordination—implementing programs while continuously monitoring and adjusting to local realities. This approach will serve as an important basis for scaling up the model across other provinces in the Mekong Delta.

The working session with the Department of Health in Can Tho – Soc Trang represents the beginning of a long-term partnership, united under one goal: ensuring that every child is cared for, nurtured, and supported to thrive from the very earliest years of life.