This project seeks to validate the Global Scale for Early Development Short Form (GSED SF), developed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), for use in Kiribati. This will help establish a suite of culturally appropriate instruments that can be used by the government to monitor and evaluate child development.
The GSED is designed to capture development from birth through to 3 years of age. It will provide the government, donors, NGOs, and communities with a valid instrument to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of programmes, interventions, and services on child development. It has been piloted in a handful of countries and the WHO is keen to see other countries engage.
This project seeks to validate the GSED SF for use in Kiribati, where there is currently no developmental assessment of children under the age of 3.
The Kiribati early Human Capability Index (Ki-eHCI), which captures child development from 3-6 years of age, has already been implemented with success. The GSED and the Ki-eHCI have overlapping items, allowing the instruments to ‘talk’ to each other. As such this validation process will also be important for Thrive, establishing an outcome measure for our future research. By the end of this project, Kiribati will be able to monitor and track the development of children from birth through to 6 years of age.
To gain the most value of this piloting process for Kiribati, we will undertake a household survey, focused on parenting practices, and parental involvement. We will also query parents about their desires and aspirations for their children and how they see their role, the community’s role and the government’s role in realising those aims.