Talking Early Childhood
Mike Feigelson is a Programme Officer and an Acting Programme Manager at the Bernard van Leer Foundation in the Netherlands and member of the INEE Early Childhood Task Team.
On the last night of the consultation, I went out to dinner with some of the organizers (fantastic job by the way!) and a few participants. At the end of the night I went to shake hands with one of the other guests. She stopped me, pushed my hand a way and gave me a hug… “now you’re part of the INEE family,” she said.
This sense of an intensely committed and intimately knit family is what most struck and impressed me at the consultation (that and the way everyone sat up straight the moment Mary Mendenhall stood at the podium ☺).
That said, I was left wishing that the ECD community were a more fundamental piece of the INEE family. I could see great strides were made in this sense and the appointment of Mary Moran from CCF to the INEE Steering Group is heartening in and of itself. But, I am still left wanting to see a more compelling articulation of the experiences of young children within the INEE agenda.
So, some thoughts on what that might look like before I return to the stack of documents, which have piled up in my inbox over the week in Turkey:
- Maybe it means that when we track resource allocation for conflict-affected countries we see a number for the ECD subsector (thankfully numbers, unlike people, can be easily seen even when they are small)
- Maybe it means that researchers consider the way the ECD programmes (which support a strong social and emotional foundation) are not only good for young children, but can simultaneously optimize the impact of other common educational programmes by mobilizing women and girls…
- Maybe it means wondering what it means that the youngest children are forming their worldviews based on a world of violence…
And for the ECDers out there…I think David Skinner (Director for Save the Children’s Rewrite the Future) pointed out the critical question to consider. What is the compelling, MDG-like outcome that can help explain to people what this is all about?
Photo: Louise Zimanyi, Director of the Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development speaking during the Closing Plenary session
Comments
jacqueline hayden Apr 07, 2009
Ya know, every meeting I have been to with Michael seemed to end with me getting a handshake and him receiving a hug - so I am not surprised by this incident.
Thanks Michael for your 3 dot points which capture the challenges for the ECD group. I want to remind readers that the Early Childhood Emergency Working Group (EEWG) has identified 4 goals for the ECD research task team: 1) coordination of research projects including assistance with field placements, 2)training in research methods with young children in emergency situations, 3)contributiong to the update of minimum standards to include ecd related items, and 4) the undertaking of a major research project to forward our knowledge base in this area.
More information about these activities will be posted but in the meantime readers should feel free to contact Jacqueline Hayden and/or Rob Lindsey (Co-Coordinators of the Research Task Team) with inquiries or comments. We are espeically interested in hearing from current and potential PhD candidates who are focussing on this issue.
Jacqueline Hayden .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Rob Lindsey .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Louise Zimanyi Apr 07, 2009
Thanks Michael and Jackie!
It was a fantastic week of learning, sharing and networking through every breakfast, break, lunch, dinner and post dinner events!
The early childhood session indeed highlighted the need for an MDG-like objective/goal if not an MDG goal - this is a critical challenge for our field in general and one that must be addressed if we are to make progress on the over 200 million children under 5 who do not reach their developmental potential due to poverty, malnutrition and lack of care/a caring environment.
Knowing what is being spent (or isn’t) is also critical and we are exploring this further including looking at how the gender group has been looking at this issue.
We thanks those who attended the EC session for the rich and stimulating discussions. For those who were unable to attend or we did not make a connection with (there were a few left on the list!), we will be posting the outcome documents and supporting material at http://www.ecdgroup.com/emergencies.asp and sending out to the EEWG list/INEE taskteam. If you would like to join the EEWG/INEE taskteam, please email us at: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Finally, congratulations to the INEE team - we are pleased to be part of your family and welcome you into ours! We look forward to reporting on our progress at the next consultation.
Louise Zimanyi
Director, The Consultative Group on ECCD
http://www.ecdgroup.com
John Aug 17, 2009
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Jackie H Sep 16, 2009
Excellent ideas for integrating the ECD and INEE. Thank you for your leadership! phone counseling therapy
Louise Zimanyi Sep 16, 2009
Thanks Jackie!!!
Look forward to exploring the impact of ecd in emergency programming - let’s look at bringing other players into this!!