- Providing mental health tips to parents, children and youth during and after COVID-19 quarantine
Kuwait, Beirut – May 17, 2020
Zain Group, a leading mobile telecom innovator in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, has teamed up with the Mentor Arabia Foundation, to launch a social media campaign, entitled #StayZain. The regional campaign offers tips for parents, children and youth to maintain good mental and physical health, to reduce anxiety and depression, to motivate them to think positively and to avoid negative behaviour during and after COVID-19 quarantine period.
In addition to keeping children and young people physically safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is also important to care for their emotional health. The #StayZain campaign will engage the youth, parents and children through digital means, providing one tip daily, in English and Arabic on Zain and Mentor Arabia’s social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook) for a period of 11 days.
A sample of the helpful daily tips include: Listen Actively– Our children need to feel heard and safe!; Seek professional Support– Ask for help when children show signs of trauma not resolving relatively quickly!; Emphasize Hope and Positivity– Focus on things you can control instead of those you can’t control!
This campaign comes in response to the COVID-19 outbreak and its global repercussions, which have impacted everyday life for millions of people. Children may struggle with significant adjustments to their routines (e.g., schools and childcare closures, physical distancing, home confinement), which may interfere with their sense of structure, predictability, and security.
Young people—even infants and toddlers—are keen observers of people and environments, and they notice and react to stress in their parents and other caregivers, peers, and community members. They may ask direct questions about what is happening now or what will happen in the future and may behave differently in reaction to strong feelings (e.g., fear, worry, sadness, anger) about the pandemic and related conditions. Children also may worry about their own safety and the safety of their loved ones, how they will get their basic needs met (e.g., food, shelter, clothing), and uncertainties for the future. Mentor Arabia Foundation is the regional branch of Mentor International, with a mission to empower Arab children and youth, as a means of prevention of risky behaviours through policies, capacity development, advocacy, knowledge and partnerships. In 2019, Zain partnered the Foundation to hold the ‘Power of Prevention’ fundraising gala event in the presence of HM Queen Silvia of Sweden, President of Mentor International.