Early childhood development (ECD) and parenting services in humanitarian and fragile settings are increasingly recognised as essential to ending preventable deaths, supporting healthy brain development among new-borns and young children and for children's overall health and wellbeing. These services also have the potential to drive economic recovery and peacebuilding in communities and countries.

 

In the early years of life, when a child’s rapidly developing brain is exceptionally sensitive to environmental influences, the detrimental impacts of humanitarian crises including conflict and displacement are especially salient. Children who experience adversity and exposure to prolonged stress during infancy – including chronic poverty, nutritional deprivation, or exposure to violence and conflict – run a greater risk of developing cognitive, behavioural and emotional difficulties, which can have muti-dimentional and long-term impacts into adulthood. Today, millions of young children around the world live in environments that expose them to trauma and multiple deprivations, leaving them at risk of toxic stress and inhibiting them from achieving their full developmental potential. UNICEF therefore utilises ECD and caregiver support tools and interventions to promote caregiver well-being and address the unique risks facing the most vulnerable new-borns and young children living in humanitarian and fragile settings.