HDP Can Have Significant Impact on Developing World

Early childhood is the most rapid period of development in a human life. Biomedical research has demonstrated the direct impact of prenatal and early childhood experiences on brain development, and the influence of early years on physical and mental development later in life.

This realisation found its way into the 1994 Chancellor’s Commission Report which recommended the establishment of an Institute for Human Development. A precursor to such an Institute is AKU’s Human Development Programme (HDP), which is now actively engaged with communities, partners, and national and international Early Childhood Development (ECD) specialists.

HDP aims at developing a cadre of national and regional Early Childhood Development leaders.

In this connection, the programme organised its first Graduate Seminar in Human Development in Karachi in September 2004. Titled ‘From Early Childhood Development to Human Development: Integrating Perspectives’, the seminar was described by speakers as the first step towards a work-linked graduate programme focusing on integrated ECD as an entry point for human development, not just in Pakistan but the region as a whole. “This was a significant initiative undertaken by the University’s HDP, which aims primarily at developing a cadre of national and regional ECD leaders through higher education opportunities and dissemination of research,” says Dr Jim Irvine, Planning Coordinator, HDP, AKU.

The seminar attracted ECD professionals and managers from diverse academic and professional backgrounds including medicine, nursing, education and community development, as well as NGO, government and donor agency representatives. Participants and facilitators included experts from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, China, Kenya, New Zealand and USA.

Speaking on behalf of AKU Board of Trustees, Ambassador Saidullah Khan Dehlavi appreciated the generous support extended by USAID, UNICEF and Aga Khan Foundation, and reiterated the University’s commitment to its HDP. Affirming that the programme “has the potential to significantly impact the developing world,” he encouraged participants to share learnings from the seminar with families and communities in an effective and sustainable way.

In his address, Douglas Rohn, Consul General of the United States in Karachi, emphasised USAID’s commitment to human development in Pakistan with a focus on the early years of life. Rohn also thanked Aga Khan Foundation, Pakistan (AKF,P) and other partners for supporting the USAID-sponsored Releasing Confidence and Creativity (RCC) project and appreciated AKU’s role in organising a graduate seminar, terming the event an important initial step towards asserting the significance of ECD initiatives in developing countries such as Pakistan.

Dr Randy Hatfield, Programme Manager, Education, AKF,P, thanked the University and other partners for their commitment to the RCC project and to ECD in Pakistan. Expressing their appreciation of this landmark seminar, participants described it as an important turning point in their thinking about early childhood development.