Bebbo app, an online tool for parents in Montenegro
An online application that provides reliable parenting advice is now accessible for free to all families in Montenegro.
16/08/2022
Maja Miranović is a mother of a five-year-old girl and, like all parents, she is interested in the best positive parenting methods, including the health and safety, development and learning of her daughter. However, getting reliable advice on parenting is not always easy, as there are many sources of official and unofficial information available. Since February this year, Maja has been using the mobile application, Bebbo, to answer most of the key questions she has on positive parenting.
“Given that we live in an era of internet communication and the rise of social networks, we tend to be overwhelmed with information and advice from various sources and are unable to immediately assess the reliability of some of the information. The Bebbo app saves me time and energy because everything I find in it comes from a credible institution, so I recommend it to all the parents I know,” Maja says.
The Bebbo app is a free online tool that was launched in February this year, and Maja was part of a test group of parents who tried Bebbo and provided their suggestions for the further development of the application. Since it was launched, Maja has been actively using and recommending it to other parents. She describes the tips and articles in the Bebbo app as concrete, concise, verified and reliable. “Several ‘brainteasers’ suggested for a given age not only made our time pass faster and entertained her well, but also showed me that my child is capable of thinking in a way that, until then, I had not noticed,” Maja says.
“The application has been downloaded more than 7,800 times in Montenegro. The parents have rated it on average 4.53 out of 5. These figures show that the parents are happy with the app, however, we plan to supplement Bebbo continuously with new content and try to make it useful for as many parents and professionals as possible.”
Ida Ferdinandi, UNICEF’s Early Childhood Development Officer in MontenegroProfessional parenting gathered in one app
The Bebbo app was developed and launched by UNICEF’s Europe and Central Asia Regional Office, with the contribution of the European Union. The app is designed to help parents of children under six years of age with easy tips on topics like breastfeeding and baby weaning, health, nutrition, immunisation, learning, toys and games for children, developmental milestones and positive parenting. Helpful and interactive tools help nurture and aid children’s health and development. Ida Ferdinandi, UNICEF’s Early Childhood Development Officer in Montenegro, explains that they are very pleased with the results and parents’ feedback so far. “The application has been downloaded more than 7,800 times. The parents have rated it on average 4.53 out of 5. These figures show that the parents are happy with the app, however, we plan to supplement Bebbo continuously with new content and try to make it useful for as many parents and professionals as possible,” says Ida.
Ida further explains that all the content has been developed and validated by early childhood development experts and a large team of professionals including developers, child psychology experts and practitioners. In addition, the UNICEF office in Montenegro worked on adapting the app to specific country needs.
“We had to adapt the content for our context so we partnered with the Institute of Public Health who cross-checked and adjusted some articles, or developed new content. For example, we adapted the vaccination calendar, which is very different from other countries, the paediatric schedule, health services available, and information about phone numbers and hotlines. We had to contextualise, so people in Montenegro can get full services from the Bebbo app,” says Ida.
“The EU financial support was instrumental for both developing the app at regional level and for launching Bebbo locally. The app is richly designed, with plenty of features to satisfy different needs parents might have. The whole process included months of hard work by quite a large professional team. For local adaptation of the app, we used resources from the “EU and UNICEF for Early Childhood Development in Montenegro” project.”
Ida Ferdinandi, UNICEF’s Early Childhood Development Officer in MontenegroAccording to Ida, the development of the app was very demanding in terms of funds and expertise. “The EU financial support was instrumental for both developing the app at regional level and for launching Bebbo locally. The app is richly designed, with plenty of features to satisfy different needs parents might have. The whole process included months of hard work by quite a large professional team. For local adaptation of the app, we used resources from the “EU and UNICEF for Early Childhood Development in Montenegro” project, says Ida.
She explains that the Institute for Public Health in Montenegro is considering taking over the management of the app in the long run. In the meantime, UNICEF and the Institute for Public Health are developing new content and publishing it within the app.
About the project
The parenting app was developed by UNICEF. The EU-funded “Mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on children and families in the Western Balkans and Turkey” project supported the development of some additional features of the application and enhancements, as well as ongoing technical support to the country offices in the Western Balkans during the adaptation phase. The project was launched in 2021 by UNICEF and the European Commission Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations. It aims to strengthen national health, education, early childhood development, and child protection systems to ensure continuity in the provision of core services for vulnerable children and their families in the immediate and the longer-term recovery response to COVID-19. In Montenegro the adaptation of the application was funded through the “EU and Unicef for Early Childhood Development in Montenegro” project (2020-2023).
Photo credits: Unicef