Establishment of market based childcare center to provide safe space for children coming to the market with their parents to be nurtured well.

Initiative Year: 2025 | Duration: 2–3 years

Objectives/Background

In Tanzania, many parents and caregivers who lack home-based childcare move to the public markets with their children many of them aged 0-3 years. Tanzania has a large number of public markets but only 2 are currently offering the real childcare options these are in Dar es salaam and Njombe only. Being specific to Mbeya Region where this initiative aims to be implemented no market has any childcare options for parents and these markets have records of many children below five coming to the markets with their parents. Moreover, for parents to balance both business activities in the market and childcare responsibilities poses a huge challenge, affecting both mothers' productivity and children's well-being.

Because parents that comes with children in the public market lacks childcare services, we are establishing market based childcare Centre so that children can get adequate childcare services

The objectives are;

1. Provide sustainable, affordable and accessible childcare solution in the public markets

2.To support both the needs of children to have a safe space in market to achieve their developmental potential (focus on 5 nurturing care components) while their mothers are doing business

1. Empower working mothers to focus on their businesses, increasing productivity and income.

4.Stakeholder engagement: For sustainability and community ownership. The establishment will engage both the government, community and business association in the market.

Context/Target Group

The target group of this initiative are

1. Business parents who come to the market with children

2.Children below 5 years of age who visit the market with their parents and lacks safe space to be nurtured to attain their developmental potential

1. Public markets with no childcare options

Implementation Approach

The core implementation approach is both community and government collaboration to ensure sustainability and ownership

The key activities are.

1. Advocacy Meeting and Needs assessment with both the local Government and parents to identify and explain the need to establish childcare center inside the Mwanjelwa Market-Done

2. Request for the space or Area inside the market to establish Childcare Center from the government-Done and secured

3.Centre building designs and building costs establishments-Done

1. Establish committee that will include both stakeholders to engage in center building activities-Done

2. Identify Stakeholder for engagement-In progress

3. Fundraising stage and meetings for the building costs-In progress

4. Centre constructions and setup-Not yet still fund raising

5. Caregivers' capacity building-Not yet

8.Financial modelling systems establishment-Till center is operational

9.Service Implementation-Not yet

10.Monitoring and evaluation of service quality-Not yet

Partnerships & Areas for Strengthening

The following are areas that we are looking to strengthen through partnership

1. Fundraising and resource mobilization (We are looking for fund to establish the center)

2.Financial modeling

1. Caregiver capacity building

4.Monitoring and Evaluation