2022 Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Early Childhood Development (ECD)

Young children in crisis: addressing the impact of Covid-19, climate change and environmental degradation, July 5-8, 2022

This year’s conference aims to bring about strong awareness among policy makers and practitioners of the substantial threats young children are facing due to the multiple crises affecting them, i.e., COVID-19, climate change and environmental degradation. The conference provides a platform to generate opportunities in the
region around cross-sectoral and cross-country collaboration to strengthen ECD programmes as a whole and highlight context-specific ECD and multisectoral responses to localised impacts on young children and their communities.

As such, this year’s conference adopts the following theme:Young children in crisis: addressing the impact of COVID-19, climate change, and environmental
degradation.

Specifically, the conference aims to:
• Raise awareness among policy makers and practitioners of the compounding impact of the crises of COVID-19, climate change and environmental degradation on the family wellbeing and young children’s development and learning across the lifespan;
• Strengthen advocacy efforts within the region on how ECD policies, programs, and services can be strengthened to respond to these three crises affecting young children and their families;
• Share knowledge, tools and innovative practices developed at the national, sub-national and community level to promote nurturing care in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change,and environmental degradation affecting young children’s development; and
• Strengthen multi-sectoral partnerships and ECD investments among existing and potential stakeholders, amidst these multiple crises, to create nurturing and sustainable environments for young children.