Early Childhood Matters 2020

The global COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the enormous gaps between communities, cities, regions and nation states. To shape a better future, investing in early childhood needs to remain a priority for all governments and societies. Front and centre of this year’s Early Childhood Matters are resounding calls to action from global leaders and experts to ensure that young children, families, frontline workers and cities continue to thrive.

The 33 articles included this year demonstrate a diversity of projects, programmes and policies on how to address several of todays’ challenges impacting babies, toddlers and their caregivers especially due to COVID-19.

Authors include Laura Chinchilla Miranda, former President of Costa Rica; Constanza Alarcón Párraga, Vice-minister of Basic and Middle Preschool Education, Colombia; Princess Dina Mired of Jordan; Erion Veliaj, Mayor of Tirana, Albania; Teresa Surita, Mayor of Boa Vista, Brazil; and many others…

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Editorial

Rising to the challenges of today by investing in the early years for the present and future

Cecilia Vaca Jones

Leadership

Bold leadership – or, as we see it, the ability to mobilise people to solve important problems collectively – is crucial to achieving results for young children. In this section, leaders from local and national government, civil society and academia discuss meeting the challenges of today and using strategic foresight to shape the future of early childhood.

The Covid-19 pandemic and childhood in Latin America and the Caribbean

Laura Chinchilla Miranda

Inter-sectoral work in public policy in Colombia as a poverty reduction strategy

Constanza Alarcón Párraga

Her Royal Highness Princess Dina Mired of Jordan speaking on behalf of civil society as an 'Eminent Champion' of non-communicable diseases at the United Nations General Assembly Third High-level Meeting on NCDs in New York in 2018

Scaling

There are many pathways to scale – taking a successful small programme, and making it work for hundreds of thousands of children – but the challenges are complex. In this section, practitioners and policymakers explore issues such as coordination, financing, training, monitoring and learning, with many of the articles touching on the unique challenges and new opportunities created in 2020 by the Covid-19 pandemic.

A community health volunteer in Zanzibar, guided by a mobile phone tool, counsels a new mother

Jamii ni Afya: using digital tools to scale integrated services to mothers and children in Zanzibar

Kim Wilson et al.

The Chile Crece Contigo health team educates mothers and screens for postpartum depression at Iquique Hospital, Chile

Perinatal depression in Chile: advances and challenges

Matías Irarrázaval

The bond between the Play Leaders and the Rohingya children helps to keep the children engaged in playful learning

Mental health and learning: BRAC’s response in Bangladesh during Covid-19

Jahanara Ahmad et al.

Father playing with child at pop-up play event in Tel Aviv

Scaling early childhood services in cities: lessons from four Urban95 case studies

Jennifer Widner et al.

Supporting children to grow smarter, not just taller: here’s how

Elizabeth L. Prado et al.

Children can leave their own imprint in Refugee Trauma Initiative's Baytna spaces

Identity matters: addressing inequity starts in early childhood

Zarlasht Halaimzai

Young children eating fortified porridges

Business matters: engaging the private sector to give young children a healthy start in life

Lawrence Haddad

Sugira Muryango: scaling home visits in Rwanda through implementation science

Tressa Johnson et al.

Mothers demonstrating warm hug care during World Prematurity Week 2018

Improving child outcomes in Egypt through blended training and community awareness

Abla Al-Alfy

Ensuring regular hand washing as part of anganwadi teacher training and field monitoring

Scaling-up mother tongue-based multilingual preschool education in Odisha

Anu Garg et al.

Innovations

Before good practices can be taken to scale, we first need good ideas. In this section, we focus on innovations – new or emerging programmes, policies or services which have the potential to meet the needs of young children and their caregivers in a wider range of contexts.

Sandriele Silva (Tukano) records stories for children

CanalCanoa: strengthening indigenous values to improve early childhood development

Kurt Shaw et al.

Children at a non-centre-based service in South Africa

A pragmatic approach to expanding access to quality early learning for South Africa’s poorest children

Carley Furness-Symms et al.

How maternal depression and behaviours impact child health and development

Erin Pfeiffer

Active play with children at a 'Village'

The ‘Village’ project: towards early learning communities

Giorgio Tamburlini et al.

Teacher and child at OneSky Early Learning Centre in Vietnam

OneSky: blended learning for home-based childcare providers in Vietnam

Alice Wong et al.

Strategic foresight and the post-Covid future of early childhood

Joe Waters

a health worker transports the day's vaccines from the health zone's central bureau to the health facility in Kinshasa.

Adapting service delivery to reach marginalised women and children in urban areas

Folake Olayinka et al.

Rotterdam research will inform decisions on future pandemic lockdowns

Vincent Jaddoe

A playground in Istanbul designed for children from birth to age 3 and their caregivers

Planning play for 1.1 million babies: Istanbul95

Selva Gürdogan

How Covid-19 accelerated change: innovations in working with parents in Israel

Maya Yaari et al.

Global impressions

The articles in this section highlight initiatives, resources and approaches that have inspired us over the last year, which we believe deserve a wider audience.

Building early childhood systems

Sharon Lynn Kagan et al.

Stigmatised and unsupported: the double tragedy of children with incarcerated parents

Rose Atieno Opiyo

Still image from The Beginning of Life 2 – Outside movie that explores how children experience the natural world

The Beginning of Life 2 – Outside: new documentary promotes children’s engagement with nature

Laís Fleury

Climate change and early childhood development: finding the synergies

Carlos Carlos Dora

Open/Play Streets with barriers at entry points provide safe space for physical activity, play and distant socialising

Streets as assets in the Covid-19 pandemic response and recovery

Skye Duncan

Mom on her phone while carrying her baby.

Help or hindrance? The impact of gig work on caregiving

Emma Samman et al.

Towards a feminist childcare recovery

Elliot Haspel

Issue Colophon

Editorial Board: Cecilia Vaca Jones
Editorial Board: Hannah Rothschild
Editorial Board: Joni Baboci
Editorial Board: Zarlasht Halaimzai
Editorial Board: Lynette Okengo
Production editor: Frances Buckingham
Consultant editor: Andrew Wright
Text editing: Margaret Mellor
Design: Laura de Jongh
Illustrations: Abbey Lossing

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Hoping this issue of Early Childhood Matters is a valuable resource for you, we encourage you to share within your network. Below some infographics, including a GIF, and more detailed guidelines with sample social media messages for you to share.

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