Hope for the world’s most vulnerable children impacted by COVID-19. ECPCs presentation at the C20 Summit 2020 (10 Oct 2020)

How investing in early childhood care and education can combat COVID-19’s short- and long-term impact on children living among conflict, war, and displacement

ECPC panel session flyer


C20 Summit 2020

On Saturday October 10,  international experts from the Early Childhood Peace Consortium (ECPC) discussed early childhood development (ECD) strategies in relation to COVID-19 at this year’s Civil Society 20 (C20)’s virtual annual summit. The C20 predicted that “This year’s summit is sure to be the biggest virtual gather of thousands of civil society leaders and change makers in the G20 process”.

ECPC Panel Session | COVID-19 Response & Recovery 

In the ECPC panel discussion Response to COVID-19 for children in fragile and conflict-affected settings: The promise of early childhood development, varied perspectives were presented on how to develop and implement health and education policy that targets and curbs the negative effects of COVID-19 on the development of our young children, especially the most vulnerable.
 
Watch the recording of the ECPC 90 minute panel session, broadcast LIVE on 10 October 2020.

Promising ECD program development, evaluation and implementation

Joining Drs. Salah and Leckman on the C20 panel was a prominent group of ECPC international professionals in the field of ECD that focus on 1) program development, evaluation and implementation in the context of peacebuilding, 2) on-the-ground intervention programs in humanitarian situations, and 3) and the right to education for all, including the most vulnerable. 
 
C20 video appearances include:
 
  1. Rima Salah, PhD (0:01)—ECPC Chairperson, Assistant Clinical Professor in the Yale Child Study Center, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, former Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, and former member of the United Nations High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations
  2. James F. Leckman, MD, PhD (13:54)—Neison Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry, Psychiatry, Pediatrics and Psychology in the Yale Child Study Center
  3. Siobhán Fitzpatrick, CBE (30:34)—Former Chief Executive Officer, Early Years - the organisation for young children (N. Ireland)
  4. Nada Elattar, MPH (41:20)—Early Childhood Development Specialist - Emergencies, UNICEF
  5. Ghassan Issa, MD (52:32)—Co-founder and the General Coordinator of an Arab regional non-governmental organization, Director of ANECD—the Arab Network for Early Childhood Development (Lebanon)
  6. Ana Tenorio, MA, MS (1:02:46)—Global Technical Director, Education, TSO, World Vision International (Representing ECPC Advisory Board member, Dilshan Manoj Annaraj, World Vision International)
  7. Conclusion (1:14:44)

► READ the 21-page C20 Summit ECPC panel session report: “The State of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the World’s Most Vulnerable Children.


As one of the Group of Twenty’s (G20) eight official engagement groups, the C20 has a diverse coalition of civil leaders spanning across 80 countries who play a prominent role in fostering social and economic justice across the international community and holding our world leaders accountable for protecting the rights of all people. This year’s summit, hosted by C20 Saudi Arabia 2020, drew 40,000 participants and focused on 5 core themes:
  1. The world’s response and recovery to COVID-19,
  2. Economic and social justice,
  3. Sustainable development,
  4. Protection of human rights as well as the accountability, and
  5. transparency of governments across the world. 

About the ECPC

The Early Childhood Peace Consortium (ECPC) is a global  movement of United Nations agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations, academia, practitioners and the private sector focused on sharing scientific and practice-based evidence on how investment in early childhood development (ECD) can contribute to sustainable peace, social cohesion and social justice. We recognize that investing in ECD is a powerful and cost-effective strategy for reducing violence, poverty and exclusion and for building peaceful societies.
 

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