Researchers, educationalists and policy makers meet to discuss early childhood development in a three-day long workshop In Dar es Salaam beginning today. “Early Childhood Development in Uncertain Times: From Awareness and Evidence to Commitment and Action” is the theme of the Second International Conference on Early Childhood Development- an initiative by the Aga Khan University’s Institute for Human Development (IHD), in partnership with The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and The Aga Khan Foundation.
In his opening remarks, Professor Kofi Marfo, Foundation Director, IHD said that the responsibility of children’s development rests on everyone; the parents, the extended family, the community and the nation. “We have a collective responsibility to create safe spaces for our children to play, safe water for our children to drink, good quality nutrition for our children to grow, health centres and hospitals to take care of our children when they are ill and so much more,” said professor Marfo.
He urged all the stakeholders to seek changes that make long-term investments in policies, services and interventions that would strengthen the foundations of Human Development, saying “our future as a human society rests on the shoulders of our children; if we fail to build strong foundations for the successful future for our children, there is no future to talk about.”
The conference is the second to be held by IHD and its partner organizations- the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and Aga Khan Foundation.
Since its launch in 2015, IHD works to generate new knowledge through basic and applied research; apply the knowledge gained through research to inform programmes, services, and practices within community settings; influence policy formulation and implementation in ways that reap the benefits of the systematic research produced at the institute and elsewhere; and deliver educational programmes at multiples levels of study to prepare a wide range of human development specialists and professionals.
A key part of this is advancing institutions and knowledge for improved early human development. In partnership with the Aga Khan Foundation and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, IHD providing education and training in the Science of Early Child Development to professionals from community-based entities providing services for children have worked to strengthen early childhood development in east Africa.
Learn more about IHD’s work.
Topics discussed in the sessions included; Early childhood socialization in a pluralistic world: Addressing uncomfortable truths, Enabling caregivers in low income communities to make a difference in the first three years of a child’s life, improving child development and maternal mental health, managing inappropriate behaviours of pupils with cognitive disabilities, pre-school safety in informal settlements with case studies drawn from Africa, India, China and Pakistan.