**5.1 Recommendations**

To ensure nurturing and care are entrenched in care practices for young children, it is recommended that:

First, at national policy level where decisions are taken, attention should be made on enforcement of policies and other legal instruments that support ECCD providers and other stakeholders with knowledge on how to provide an enabling environment to cater for the needs of children. Such environment should raise issues of resource allocation, both physical and financial, in support of the endeavor.

Second, the lead ministry, in collaboration with the IECCD multi-sectoral team and with support from partners (UNICEF, World Bank, World Health Organization) must ensure that training in the application of the Framework is offered and guidelines for its implementation are availed. Advocacy for implementation of the Framework must be set as a priority in all efforts undertaken to improve the wellbeing of children, and particularly children aged below 3.

Third, lessons learned from the practices of the caregiver at the daycare centre could form a platform for other caregivers in the area regarding how child care can be improved for the benefit of children's wellbeing. Furthermore, experiences that have been uncovered in the case study centre could be used as a basis for designing a study with wide coverage to investigate the care and nurture practices as outlined in the Nurturing Care Framework, among the different caregivers in various settings in the country.

In summary, quality child care is a partnership between day care settings and a child's parents (family). Caregivers, as providers of the valuable service of child minding, play a critical role in the healthy development of children. Therefore, the ability to nurture children to optimal growth and development depends on the quality of skills, knowledge and attitudes that caregivers learn from training. The Nurturing Care Framework offers support to how caregivers are guided to provide good health, good nutrition, responsive caregiving, stimulation, safety and protection of the children. Therefore, strong foundations must be built right from the start. The above sentiment is represented graphically below.
