Convened by: Lisa Long of Save the Children US and Arnaud Conchon of UNICEF
Development is every child’s right. Early childhood (0-8 years) is the most important period of human physical, cognitive, emotional and social development. As stated during the launching of “The State of the World’s Children” (2001), the key to human development progress lies with the very youngest. In humanitarian crises interrupt the routines of human interaction and play that are the building blocks for the overall development of the child in the early years of life. Without specific care and support during times of crisis, this negative impact on children’s healthy development can last a lifetime. Therefore, in order to help children recover from such disruptions, taking appropriate action to meet the specific needs of children in emergency situations should be seen as a priority. In particular, children’s active involvement in their own recovery process, and that of their peers, is a critical and effective way of enhancing coping mechanisms.
The agenda to improve child survival and health in emergencies is indivisible from the agenda to improve early child development. That is, taking a developmental perspective on the early years provides a comprehensive framework of understanding that subsumes issues of survival and health. A healthy start in life gives each child an equal chance to thrive and grow into an adult who makes a positive contribution to the community—economically and socially.
Through a North-South / South-South dialogue the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) in Emergencies GTG aims to ensure the development and implementation of effective tools, practices and policies to adequately respond to the holistic and diverse survival and developmental rights and needs of young children in emergency situations. Collectively, the groups seeks to analyze and synthesize information gathered from research, case studies, successful practices and tools from the fields of ECCD and to apply this information to guide program implementation.
The ECCD GTG’s core objectives are:
- to strengthen capacity development and coordination of ECCD and Emergencies’ stakeholders to effectively act for young children in these settings,
- to inform and address the current gap for quality ECCD programming in emergency and transition situations, and
- to advocate for improved investments, policies, and commitment to action related to young children in Emergency and transition situations.
The ECCD in Emergencies GTG seeks to facilitate a broad-based understanding of the critical importance of ECCD in emergency and post-crisis transition settings to maximize human potential for social development and poverty reduction. This will be achieved through advocacy for improved investments, policies and actions based upon field-based research initiatives.
The Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development
