Innovators often work with groups of women, men and young children who are excluded from, or underserved by, services that could make their lives better and create an environment for healthy child development.
Marginalized groups include adolescent and impoverished pregnant women and mothers, indigenous populations, displaced persons, incarcerated women, and groups excluded by race, ethnicity and class.
Marginalization is reinforced by existing laws and policies, as well as cultural norms.
How do we identify the underserved, and how do we work with the dynamics that arise when an intervention challenges government policies and formal power structures?
Reinserta
Reinserta in Mexico wrote a law that recognizes the existence of children in the penitentiary system and supports them.
“We seek to transform the lives of children that are born and live in prison and their mothers, through a health care model for integral development during early childhood.
A key aspect of our innovation is political incidence with local and national authorities was involved in the creation of a law that recognized the existence of children in the penitentiary system, including them in the penitentiary budget and respecting their human rights. It is now our job to make sure the government executes the law fully in all prisons of the country.”
Research Center for Training and Development
World Vision Jerusalem-West Bank-Gaza
The Research Center for Training and Development in Vietnam and World Vision Jerusalem-West Bank-Gaza work with local officials and religious leaders to gain acceptance and support for ECD initiatives which challenge gender norms and customary practices. Sometimes advocacy is needed from these formal and informal leaders to help women gain access to resources they have not been able to access on their own – skills to support child development, vocational training, childcare skills, and nutritional support.