According to Pampers, 40% of parents in South Africa are single moms.

The brand says that although the past year has been challenging for most parents, it has been undoubtedly been even much more so for single parents who spent months isolated from family, friends and childcare facilities that would form part of their support system.

"My son Dialo is just over a year old, so he spent most of the first year of his life in lockdown," says Thwala. "I was worried at first that he was missing out on crucial social contact with others. But I realised that I had an opportunity to do things differently and that's when I decided to create special moments where we would explore and learn about the world in our home in creative ways."

Damilola Oyebanjo, brand director at Pampers South Africa, says, "Pampers exists to celebrate and support parents to give babies the brightest beginnings in spite of these unprecedented times. Children's Day presents the perfect opportunity for us to celebrate single moms, who are bringing up the next generation."

"Forty percent of parents are single moms in South Africa and, despite the challenges, all parents are showing incredible resilience and are giving their little ones a great foundation because of their active involvement and investment in their child’s development," adds Oyebanjo.

Pampers says that it has pledged to donate towards early childhood learning scholarships by partnering up with SmartStart. SmartStart is an early learning social franchise that boasts over 6 000 sites across South Africa. This is part of Pampers' efforts to support the happy and healthy development of little ones as they continue their journey of discovery in our post-lockdown world.

"Early learning is critical for a child's future success. Yet many children from disadvantaged communities cannot access quality early learning due to economic barriers. We're excited to be partnering with Pampers to grow access to our quality early learning programmes through early learning scholarships. We believe this kind of support is essential to parents during these times," says Samantha Maasdorp, network strategist lead at SmartStart.

The partnership with SmartStart aims to support South African moms by providing early learning opportunities for their little ones during national lockdowns, especially single moms.

Pampers is calling on all local communities to join in saluting single moms and supporting the right of all children to access quality early education this Children’s Day.

"Through National Children's Day we are presented with a unique opportunity to come alongside parents, as a brand, to support the holistic development of children by creating greater access to the critical development resources they need to have a brighter future," concludes Oyebanjo Damilola, Pampers' brand director.

For more information, visit www.pampers.com. You can also follow Pampers on Facebook or on Twitter