April 30, 2020 – The Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN) partners have co-developed and launched a Call For Coordinated Action urging all governments, global partnerships, multi- and bi-lateral agencies, political bodies, funders, international non-governmental organizations, faith-based organizations, the business sector, academia, civil society organizations, networks, and advocates to prioritize and invest in the needs of ALL young children and their parents and caregivers, especially the most vulnerable, during the COVID-19 pandemic response and recovery.
Young children and families are experiencing unprecedented challenges and disruptions to their lives with children at great risk of not reaching their full potential. Now, more than ever, parents and caregivers have a pivotal role to play at the front lines of protecting their children from stress and promoting their development, health, and well-being. This crisis has brought to the forefront the critical role of parenting, as well as the tremendous influence the home environment has on children’s lives.
We are concerned about the short term and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on children and their caregivers. Before COVID-19, at least 250 million young children were already at risk of not reaching their full potential. That number is likely to increase exponentially as more people are infected and as more families and communities deal with the socio-economic and the physical and mental health consequences of the crisis. The cost of inaction in the face of COVID-19 will have long term impacts on future human capital.
We must act now. This unprecedented global crisis calls for an agile, coordinated, and unified global effort on behalf of ALL young children, their parents and caregivers, especially the most vulnerable. We must work collectively and in novel ways to adapt, innovate, and continuously learn together in search for equitable and inclusive solutions to the complex and interrelated challenges generated by COVID-19. Join us and grow the global movement for young children, their parents and caregivers to secure a more resilient and promising future.
We Call For The Following Actions:
- Put equity and inclusion at the center of the COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.
- Support and include parents and other caregivers in the response and recovery efforts.
- Prioritize child protection.
- Ensure social protection efforts link to health, nutrition, education, and childcare services.
- Protect and support frontline workers who provide child-related services.
- Sustain and grow investments in an integrated approach to nurturing care.
- Develop sustainable pandemic preparedness, response, and recovery capacities at global and national levels that include the protection and well-being of children and their caregivers.
This Call for Coordinated Action was developed collaboratively by the following ECDAN partners:
- Africa Early Childhood Network Arab Network for Early Childhood Development
- Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood Development
- Catholic Relief Services
- ChildFund International
- Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
- Early Opportunities
- Harvard University Department of Global Population and Health
- Inter-American Development Bank
- International Step by Step Association
- Lego Foundation
- Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Sinai Health
- Open Society Foundations
- Partnership for Early Childhood Development and Disability Rights
- Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health
- Save the Children
- UNESCO
- UNICEF
- World Bank Group
- World Health Organization
- World Vision International