sa国际传媒

Photo: A World at School/Tyler Zang

As war rages around them, young children around the world are missing out on the chance to develop and learn.

That means their early years of development are being put on hold 聽鈥� just when they most need security and emotional support 鈥� according to a .

The children鈥檚 charity says聽more humanitarian aid funding and attention needs to be directed towards early childhood development (ECD) initiatives that support young children and their caregivers living through conflicts and protracted crises around the world.

The briefing says: 鈥淲ith the average length of displacement for refugees at 17 years, children cannot wait for an end to violence or displacement for learning and development to begin.

鈥淓CD can be a lifesaving intervention for the youngest children living in conflict and protracted crises and helps ensure that these children do not miss out on the opportunity to reach their full developmental potential.鈥�

Millions of children living through conflict聽are much more likely to be excluded from school or fall behind聽academically. Refugee children are five times more likely to be out of聽school than non-refugee children.

Photo:聽A World at School/Claire Wilkinson

sa国际传媒 鈥� the charity behind A World at School 鈥� says: 鈥淓CD centres can help keep young聽children on track to begin school while also diminishing their time聽spent idle or unsupervised.鈥�

The publication of the briefing came the day after sa国际传媒 attended a panel discussion to explore innovative strategies to meet the needs of young children in humanitarian crises. hosted by the Center for Universal Education at Brookings and Sesame Workshop.

In a , sa国际传媒 Research Consultant Molly Curtiss writes: 聽鈥淛effrey Dunn, President and CEO of Sesame Workshop, explained that currently 鈥榓 great many refugee kids are missing out on the stable learning experiences that are necessary to cognitive development and to a successful adult life.鈥�

鈥淚n such dangerous situations, early childhood development (ECD) programmes can be a lifeline for the youngest children, helping to keep them safe and give them hope for the future.鈥�

sa国际传媒 is an innovative charity which, through research, pilot projects and campaigning, helps children globally unlock their potential.