World Children’s Day 2025: New digital tool empowers Middle East & Eastern Europe families in crisis
Press Release
World Children’s Day: New digital tool empowers families in crisis across the Middle East and Eastern Europe
17 November 2025 – Families across the Middle East and Eastern Europe region are facing multiple layers of adversity – from displacement and conflict to economic hardship, social isolation, and disrupted access to essential services. In response, World Vision Middle East and Eastern Europe, in partnership with Parenting for Lifelong Health, is launching a digital Parenting in Crisis Chatbot – a free, rules-based chatbot, designed to empower caregivers and protect children in times of crisis.
Co-designed with caregivers from the DRC, Rwanda, and Ukraine by Parenting for Lifelong Health and adapted collaboratively with World Vision’s field offices and local partners in Georgia, Romania, Ukraine, and Afghanistan, the Parenting in Crisis Chatbot provides encouragement, emotional support, and practical parenting advice tailored to each country’s context. It utilizes simple text, audio, and short videos in a variety of local languages to promote positive parenting and self-care, reduce stress, and enhance caregivers’ well-being, even in poor-connectivity or low-literacy settings.
Through this innovative chatbot, more than 500 Ukrainian refugee families in Georgia, 5,000 rural families in Romania, 500 host and displaced families in Ukraine, and 600 earthquake-affected families in Afghanistan, will have the opportunity to interact with the chatbot and receive daily tips on parenting, stress management and child protection.
“Every parent deserves the knowledge and confidence to care for themselves and their children safely and lovingly, even amid crisis,” said Eleanor Monbiot, Regional Leader at World Vision Middle East and Eastern Europe. “This innovative digital tool allows us to reach parents in some of the most remote areas, helping them maintain focus on the well-being of their families, even in the hardest circumstances.”
“We are delighted to be working with World Vision to provide families in crisis situations with immediate parenting and mental health support that is evidence-based and can be delivered at scale through accessible and low-cost technology,” added Jamie Lachman, CEO of Parenting for Lifelong Health.
The chatbot is currently being piloted in Ukraine, Georgia, Romania, and Afghanistan. It reflects a shared commitment to ensuring that every parent has access to practical and compassionate support, with the aim of strengthening families, fostering resilient communities, and safeguarding children’s well-being for generations to come.
Notes to Editor:
About World Vision Middle East and Eastern Europe: World Vision Middle East and Eastern Europe (WV MEER) is a regional office of World Vision International, a global Christian humanitarian organisation dedicated to improving the lives of the world’s most vulnerable children. WV MEER works across more than 15 fragile and crisis-affected contexts to protect children, strengthen families, and build resilient communities through humanitarian response, development programmes, child participation, and advocacy.
About Parenting for Lifelong Health: Parenting for Lifelong Health is a charity that has been spun out of the University of Oxford. It develops, tests, and scales evidence-based parenting programmes that promote positive parenting, improve mental health, and reduce violence against children worldwide.
About the Parenting in Crisis Chatbot: It is a free, rules-based chatbot co-designed with caregivers from the DRC, Rwanda and Ukraine by Parenting for Lifelong Health and adapted collaboratively with World Vision Middle East and Eastern Europe. It provides emotional support, parenting tips, and well-being resources for caregivers in crisis-affected settings. The Parenting in Crisis Chatbot is in strict adherence to World Vision’s data protection policies, which adopt international data security standards, specifically the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union.
For more information, please contact:
Evita Jourdi, Advocacy, Policy and External Engagement Senior Advisor at World Vision Middle East and Eastern Europe: Evita_jourdi@wvi.org
Cathryn Wood, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Hannah Clark, Operations and Communications Manager at Parenting for Lifelong Health: media@parentingforlifelonghealth.org