Do children of mothers/primary caregivers who are provided the GBG integrated intervention and World Vision Lanka CH &N programme, exhibit,

a) better age appropriate child developmental outcomes, b) improved nutrition status than controls provided with the World Vision Lanka CH &N programme only.

and

Do mothers/primary caregivers who are provided the GBG integrated intervention and World Vision Lanka CH &N programme, exhibit higher levels of responsive parenting skills of their under three age group children, than controls provided with the World Vision Lanka CH &N programme only

Study setting: Participants of the study will be drawn from three Area programmes (AP) of World Vision Lanka. They are Ridigama AP in the Kurunegala district of North Western province, Chankanei AP in Jaffna district of Northern Province, and Karachchi AP, Kilinochchi district of Northern Province. Both control and intervention arms will be located in all three APs.

Randomization: Randomization will be based on GN areas. From each area, there will be 5 intervention and 5 control areas.

Intervention: The intervention arm will consist of the “Go Baby Go” intervention and The Child Health and Nutrition Package (CH&N) developed based on the guidelines of the Ministry of Health , delivered by World Vision Lanka under the supervision of the Medical Officer of Health.

Go Baby Go: The Go Baby Go! (GBG) parenting programme is developed to strengthen the confidence and competence of mothers (starting in pregnancy), fathers, and other primary caregivers of children 0 to 3 years old, thereby, promoting caregiver-child relationships that foster children’s growth, learning and lifelong development. GBG’s ultimate goal is to empower parents and caregivers with the skills to create positive change within their families, to foster holistic, early childhood development (ECD) in practical ways, and establish the strongest foundation possible for their children’s futures. The Go Baby Go intervention will comprise 10-12 group sessions (each about 45 to 90 minutes) involving approximately 30 caregivers, conducted every 2 weeks over the 6-month intervention period. This will be further supported by approximately 3-4 home visits every month during the first 3-4 months of the intervention. The group sessions will cover areas such as holistic child development, nurturing development in domains such as cognitive, language, physical and socio emotional, play and communication, home environment, family affairs and community action planning.

Child Health & Nutrition intervention Package:

• The Infant and Young Child feeding (IYCF) guidelines prepared by the Family Health Bureau of the Ministry of Healthcare, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine will be used in WVL community level programmes collaborating with the Medical Officers of Health in order to ensure uniformity in the messages given. WVL staff organizing the community level programmes will use the support of the mother support groups’ members in using the IYCF guidelines (MOH, 2014). There will be three sessions including a food/cooking demonstration as well.

• Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Programme : For prevention from diseases component, the project will focus on the following diseases: ARI, Dengue, Fever, Diarrhea, and other water borne diseases that are important to areas of implementation. There will be two sessions for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene and disease prevention in addition to the IYCF programme.

Control: Standard therapy: the standard therapy will consist of the Child Health and Nutrition Package which include the Infant and Young Child feeding (IYCF) and the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Programme, developed based on the guidelines of the Ministry of Health , delivered by World Vision Lanka under the supervision of the Medical Officer of Health.

1. Masking will only be applied to assessors at baseline. The providers, participants and data analysts will not be masked.

1. Resident in the last year in the selected areas and provide consent to take part in the trial;
2. Have a child 6 to 24 months as of 1st January 2019. The younger of two children will be selected.
3. Has agreed for home visits by facilitators and will visit the intervention sites (community centers) during intervention.

1. Children who have documented or examined to have significant illness or disability that will not allow age appropriate interventions to be provided (e.g. children with severe development delays, disabilities such as cerebral palsy)
2. Children who do not have a permanent carer (mother/father/grandparents) for the planned period of one year.
3. Mother is pregnant.
4. Mother/primary caregiver with mental disability (e.g. severe depression, Schizophrenia)