Bakary Jallow was speaking on Saturday during a two-day toy-making exercise on the Gambia Resilience, Inclusive, Skills and Equity (RISE) intervention Regions, held at Papa village in the Central River Region-South.
The exercise not only witnessed toy making activities, but also served as a platform to share best practices and foster friendship among parents from various district settlements.
The exercise, courtesy of National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) in partnership with the Department of Community Development and the Directorate of Social Welfare, is part of the PPP programme of activities in the implementation of the Gambia RISE Project.
The exercise, targeting about 900 beneficiaries including Community facilitators and caregivers of the PPP identified, is viewed as a crucial initiative meant to strengthen the relationship between children and caregivers in order to build the cognitive development of children.
Jallow recalled that the PPP project started as a program to help parents positively play with their children to help them grow and develop through the maximum growth potentials.
The Positive Playful Parenting, he said, is an avenue to help build up from the gains that, they as stakeholders have already registered focusing on child stimulation.
"In these two days program, NaNA and partners would be directly working with parents to help them make toys that are locally available materials that are safe to be played with by kids. "
Also speaking at a forum held at Dalaba in the Central River Region-South, Massaneh Bojang, a program assistant from the Foni Ding Ding Federation and an implementing partner for ChildFund-The Gambia, described the initiative as a significant step towards building strong bond between children and parents.
He applauded NaNA and partners for the initiative, while urging parents to develop positive attitudes for proper upbringing.
Sira M. Bah, who served as a facilitator, noted that they are expecting to be equipped with vast knowledge in toy making using local materials, while she urged for a knowledge transfer for wider impacts.
