Nursery provider Partou partners with UNICEF to support children worldwide
Partou, one of the UK’s largest day nursery providers, has announced an official partnership with UNICEF to promote children's rights and support child development on a global scale.
Established in 1975, Partou is the biggest childcare group in the Netherlands with more than 700 settings, over 70,000 children and 9,000 team members.
Last year, the company merged Just Childcare and All About Children under the Partou brand and now operates 106 nurseries in the UK.
Having supported UNICEF for many years through fundraising initiatives, Partou is now becoming an official partner of UNICEF. This strengthens collaboration with the United Nations agency – which has responsibility for delivering humanitarian and developmental assistance for children - to support targeted initiatives in the UK and globally, giving more children the opportunity to grow and thrive.
Partou is supporting UNICEF in providing Early Childhood Development (ECD) interventions to young children and their families to ensure that the most vulnerable children can reach their full potential. Other initiatives that Partou is backing include the ‘5 Million Futures’ programme which aims to offer five million children globally access to quality pre-school education by 2030.
Partou is also providing flexible funding to enable UNICEF to deliver fast, effective aid where children need it most. For example, through the Global Humanitarian Thematic Fund, Partou is supporting the provision of rapid assistance to vulnerable children in conflict zones such as Gaza. Flexible funding could also include assisting schemes in the UK such as the Baby Friendly Initiative, helping maternity, neonatal, community and hospital-based children’s services ensuring they are giving newborns and their families the best possible care.
Through UNICEF’s Rights Respecting Schools Award, UNICEF work with schools in the UK to create environments where children are respected, their talents are nurtured and they are able to thrive, an area that could also be supported through flexible funding.
Samantha Rhodes, Partou Managing Director, said: “UNICEF and Partou share one clear mission: every child deserves the best possible start in life. Whether it’s in relation to health, development or protection – children are at the heart of everything we do.
“UNICEF possesses unique local and global insight on children's rights. Partou brings pedagogical expertise, an extensive network and daily contact with parents and children. That is what makes this partnership so strong.
“By pooling our knowledge, we can make a real difference to many young lives.”
Luke Brocket, Director of Partnerships, UNICEF UK, said: “Children around the world pay the highest price for problems that they didn’t start, whether that’s due to conflict or natural disasters. They are the least responsible and often most affected.
“Partnerships with organisations like Partou enable UNICEF to be there whenever and wherever children need us most. By leveraging one another’s strengths, we can deliver long-term, systemic change for children – and a legacy for our partners and the world.”
