Sixth Early Childhood Care Center Opens in Mariscal Estigarribia, Paraguay's Chaco Region

Mariscal Estigarribia, in the Boquerón department, has opened its sixth Integral Attention Center for Early Childhood (CAIPI). This new state facility aims to consolidate services for early childhood development, including nutrition and early stimulation, through coordinated public institution efforts. The Ministry of Children and Adolescents (Minna) will administer the center, with support from the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare, the Civil Registry, and other unspecified government bodies.

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The objective is to concentrate services for care and child development, from nutrition to early stimulation, with a logic of articulated attention between public institutions.

A key feature of the CAIPI is the integration of the Health Information System (HIS), a Ministry of Health tool designed to digitize child care. This system will enable the recording, monitoring, and follow-up of services, thereby enhancing care continuity, improving early detection of health needs, and facilitating coordination within the public health network. The center is expected to serve a population with a significant presence of indigenous communities, with approximately 80% of its child users anticipated to be from these groups. This demographic focus underscores an intercultural strategy tailored to the specific needs of the Chaco region's communities.

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The HIS will allow for the registration, monitoring, and follow-up of care. In practice, this aims to reinforce the continuity of care, improve early detection of health needs, and facilitate coordination with public network facilities.

In conjunction with the CAIPI inauguration, a Bibliobus was officially presented. This mobile library initiative will bring learning opportunities, reading, and play-based early stimulation to remote communities, social territories, and indigenous peoples. The Bibliobus aims to extend educational and developmental resources beyond the center, aligning with the broader goal of providing comprehensive support for early childhood development across diverse and often isolated populations in the Chaco region.

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The Government expects the center to serve a child population with a strong presence of indigenous communities: it is estimated that around 80% of the child users will belong to indigenous peoples.