Name: 2022 Asia-Pacific Regional Virtual Conference on Early Childhood Development (ECD)
Start: 05/07/2022 02:00 AM +00:00
End: 08/07/2022 02:00 PM +00:00

Working together for Early Childhood.&nbsp;
Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC) is a network established to build strong partnerships across sectors and different disciplines, organisations, agencies and institutions in the Asia-Pacific region to advance the agenda on and investment in Early Childhood.
Today, ARNEC is one of the most extensive and fastest growing networks for Early Childhood Development (ECD) in the Asia-Pacific region. It provides a common platform for ECD professionals from diverse sectors and professions ranging from practitioners, experts, government institutions and NGOs, as well as regional and global agencies and networks.

Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood

UNICEF East Asia &amp; Pacific works to protect the rights of millions of children throughout the region.&nbsp;
Few regions in the world are as diverse as East Asia and the Pacific. The region stretches from Mongolia in the north to Tonga in the south, and from Western China to the Cook Islands. &nbsp;The smallest country in East Asia and the Pacific, Niue, has 1,700 people while the largest, China, has 1.3 billion people.&nbsp;
This dynamic region also boasts significant diversity &ndash; in peoples, cultures, environments, economies, political systems and potential. It includes some of the fastest-growing economies in the world as well as ten of the least-developed countries &ndash; six in the Pacific and four in East Asia. The Pacific is a distinct subregion within the wider region, with its unique characteristics, dynamics and challenges.
There are around 30 million children born in the region every year and UNICEF works in every corner to ensure every child can enjoy a happy, healthy life.&nbsp;
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the development and well-being of young children, preventing them from reaching their full developmental potential. Climate change and environmental degradation will further exacerbate these challenges. By working in partnership with stakeholders such as ARNEC, UNICEF EAPRO is committed to promoting high-quality, innovative, and inclusive ECD interventions that respond flexibly to children and their family&rsquo;s needs in a timely, cost-effective and scalable way.

UNICEF EAPRO

As the lead coordinating agency for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4), also known as the Education 2030 Agenda, UNESCO seeks to ensure that all persons can exercise their rights to education, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, religious belief or economic status.
The intellectual and emotional development during the first eight years of a child&rsquo;s life lays the foundation for lifelong learning and overall well-being. Sustainable Development Goal 4.2 aims to ensure that &lsquo;all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, &nbsp;care &nbsp;and &nbsp;pre-primary &nbsp;Education&rsquo; &nbsp;by &nbsp;2030. &nbsp;UNESCO &nbsp;Bangkok&rsquo;s &nbsp;&lsquo;Early &nbsp;Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)&rsquo; programme supports efforts by Member States to expand and improve comprehensive ECCE through advocacy, technical assistance, capacity development, research and partnerships.
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UNESCO Bangkok

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children&rsquo;s rights and equality for girls. We strive for a just world, working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners. This year we reached more girls than ever before, strengthened our programmes supporting gender equality and increased our ability to influence change. But the year also brought unprecedented challenge &ndash; the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to have profound implications for girls&rsquo; health, rights and freedoms.&nbsp;
In the early years of a child&rsquo;s life, especially the first 1,000 days when brain development is at its most rapid, children learn skills that are critical for all aspects of their lives. For their brains and bodies to develop healthily, young children need parents or caregivers who:
<ul>
<li>Create a loving and responsive environment.</li>
<li>Give their children nutritious food and clean water.</li>
<li>Protect their children from common illnesses and violence.</li>
<li>Provide opportunities for play and early learning.</li>
</ul>
However, millions of young children grow up without the care and services they need to survive and thrive. We ensure young children receive the nurturing care they need, including during emergencies. Our work improves children&rsquo;s health, nutrition, play, early learning and safety while challenging limiting and discriminatory gender stereotypes that hold girls back from an early age.&nbsp;

Plan International

UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA)
<ul>
<li>We Work with country offices, regional institutions, media, headquarters, and global thought leaders.&nbsp;</li>
<li>We Add value to UNICEF country offices in South Asia through active leadership, technical assistance, quality assurance and oversight.&nbsp;</li>
<li>We Increase confidence by being a trusted partner of choice and we promote efficiency in our operations.&nbsp;</li>
<li>We Empower others to act more strategically, innovate and take risks to improve results for every child.</li>
<li>We Bring state-of-the-art knowledge, regional perspective, access to global networks and the credibility of UNICEF.&nbsp;</li>
<li>We Influence decision making and leverage support to accelerate results for children.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia

ChildFund Alliance is a global network of 11 child-focused development organizations working to create opportunities for children and youth, their families and communities. We help nearly 16 million children and their families in more than 60 countries by working to end violence and exploitation against children and to overcome poverty and the underlying conditions that prevent children from achieving their full potential. We operate in partnership with children and their communities to create lasting change, and the participation of children themselves is a key component of our approach. ChildFund Alliance assures the highest standards in program work, governance, fundraising, and financial management.

ChildFund Alliance

WE BELIEVE EVERY CHILD DESERVES A FUTURE.
Around the world, too many children start life at a disadvantage simply because of who they are and where they come from.
Millions of children are dying from preventable causes, face poverty, violence, disease and hunger. They are caught up in war zones and disasters they did nothing to create. And they are denied an education and other basic rights owed to them.
All children deserve better.
We champion the rights and interests of children worldwide, putting the most vulnerable children first.
With 25,000 dedicated staff across 118 countries, we respond to major emergencies, deliver innovative development programmes, and ensure children's voices are heard through our campaigning to build a better future for and with children.
ACCELERATING PROGRESS FOR CHILDREN. Our ambition for 2030 is to create a world in which all children:
Survive: No child dies from preventable causes before their fifth birthday Learn: All children learn from a quality basic education Are Protected: Violence against children is no longer tolerated. Our bold ambition builds on 100 years' experience of bringing communities, civil society, governments, businesses and donors together to achieve lasting change for children.
We believe this is the only way that we can inspire real progress and breakthroughs in the way the world treats children.

Save the Children

Vision:&nbsp; Our shared vision is to work for a happy, healthy, prosperous, socially inclusive and pluralistic society in Pakistan through Early Childhood Development.
Mission: Our mission is to universalise access to holistic Early Childhood Development services for every child in Pakistan from 0 to age 8.
Objectives:&nbsp;
The &lsquo;Alliance&rsquo; will promote this mission by: Developing common understanding amongst all stakeholders about concepts of holistic inclusive and multi-sectoral ECD practices Engaging in policy dialogue and advocacy with the government to define key roles of its ministries(health, nutrition, child protection, education, and planning) in promoting holistic and inclusive development of all children Providing forums for sharing knowledge, best practices, and experiences; strengthening capacities, mobilising resources, and promoting collaboration among ECD stakeholders Facilitating stakeholders to secure grants and investments for developing and delivering innovative ECD services, material development and undertaking relevant research projects Empowering Communities (parents, families, individual ECD practitioners, and civil society organisations) giving them awareness about the importance of ECD and connecting them with government and private resources from planning to implementation of ECD (Pre-natal-3)

Pakistan Alliance for Early Childhood (PAFEC)

Seto Gurans National Child Development Services (SGNCDS) is a pioneer organization in the field of Early Childhood Development at the national, district, and community levels. It is registered as an Educational Non-governmental organization, working since 1979 in advocacy, introducing various modules for children, parents, the community, and other stakeholders.
It aims to reach the hearts and minds of children from the most disadvantaged groups with special emphasis on ECD age group children, their families, and communities. Seto Gurans has shown a sincere commitment to the ideals of child-centered development approaches and a belief in the rights of all children to grow their full potential &ndash; physically, emotionally, socially, and intellectually.&nbsp;
At the time of its origin, there was hardly a non-governmental organization, which worked for such a group of children&rsquo;s rights. The organization has produced independent District Seto Gurans Child Development Service through the local team of trained human resources and active works in 59 out of the 77 districts of Nepal with the support of national and international organizations including UN Agencies. The etymological meaning of Seto Gurans is "White Rhododendron", a flower that blooms at a high altitude with environmental bottlenecks. Symbolically Seto Gurans reflect those children who survive under difficult situations, and contexts with respect to gender, caste, creed, ethnicity, and geographical barriers. At the initial stage, it was unfamiliar to those who were concerned about the rights of an excluded group of children.&nbsp;

SETO GURANS NATIONAL CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES 

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Playful interactions with caregivers shape young brains . Yet many children, especially the most disadvantaged, miss out on such opportunities when caregivers lack the skills and motivation to play. In Bhutan, 26 percent of young children risk not reaching their developmental potential . Prescription to Play&rsquo;s (P2P) project will institutionalize play for 0-3-year-old children in Bhutan&rsquo;s health systems and improve the motivation, capability and support families need to raise children in playful homes. P2P demonstrates how playful parenting can be institutionalized and effectively delivered in national health services and sustained at scale to serve all children under three, including the geographically disadvantaged, while providing more intensive support to children with developmental delays and disabilities. The implementation research, tools and processes used, as well as proven strategies for scaling up innovations, has been consolidated into a framework to promote and scale playful parenting through government systems. The project&rsquo;s goal is &ldquo;Children reach their full potential and thrive&rdquo;. It sets out to achieve the following outcomes: 1) Improved playful interactions between primary caregivers and their children (aged birth to three) as part of a parenting intervention implemented at scale; 2) Improved practice among the workforce to promote playful interactions between primary caregivers and their children (aged birth to three); and 3) Buy-in from government to sustain the at-scale implementation of the evidence-based playful parenting intervention.&nbsp;
Key stakeholders of the P2P project are Department of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan and Save the Children.
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Prescription to Play (P2P) Bhutan

Partnering to promote a holistic approach to change the lives of young children in Nepal
Background: In Nepal there has recently been an unprecedented expansion of early childhood care and education services. The Government of Nepal is committed to expand access and increase the quality of early childcare and education services nationwide. Its commitments are visibly reflected in the new Constitution of Nepal, eighth amendment of the Education Act and the School Sector Development Plan (SSDP).
However, the major challenges associated with the development of consistent, quality early childcare and education in the country are related to:
lack of an integrated program for a holistic development of children lack of childcare programs for children under the age of four inadequate professional training and low level of motivation of the facilitators lack of a strong network between the government, communities, NGOs and INGOs to advocate for an integrated holistic early childcare and education programs lack of activities to undertake coordinated actions &nbsp;
Alliance for Early Childhood Development Nepal
In order to work towards eliminating these deficiencies, an Alliance for Early Childhood Development Nepal (AECDN) has been formally formed with the aim to bring in all the relevant stakeholders working in the field of early childhood in Nepal. AECDN is a professional membership organization that provides a platform for sharing ideas, experiences and evidences among all the stakeholders. AECDN focuses on undertaking coordinated action to support and change the early childhood care and education in Nepal.
Vision: All young children in the country grow up in a stimulating, protective and nurturing environment allowing them to reach up to their full potential.
Mission: AECDN works as a proactive civil society organization that creates opportunities for an effective collaboration among relevant stakeholders promoting high-quality early childhood development services in Nepal.
Goal: The major goal of AECDN is to bring together experts, policy makers and practitioners to explore and promote the holistic development of all young children and consequently improve early childhood care and education in the country.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Objectives
Advocate and coordinate the activities of various organizations and individuals for an increased access to holistic developmental opportunities for all young children. Provide opportunities to share knowledge, ideas, opinions and experiences among the partner organizations and individuals to learn from each other and improve. Create a resource hub for increased access to latest information, knowledge and resources relevant to the partner organizations and individuals. Contribute in improving the quality of Early Childhood Development (ECD) services delivered by various organizations and individuals. Collaborate with national, regional and international ECD networks and undertake joint initiatives. &nbsp;
Target Groups: AECDN&rsquo;s target groups are the Nepali children who are in need of appropriate early childhood services, and adults especially parents and caregivers who need appropriate knowledge and skills in providing early childhood care and education services for holistic development of children. AECDN intends to involve all relevant stakeholders of the area of ECD, bringing them together and constituting platforms for them to work and learn from each other improving ECD in Nepal.&nbsp;
International and Regional Linkages: It is a member organization of the World Forum on Early Care and Education/World Forum Foundation, USA and Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC), Singapore.
Capabilities: The organization is governed by 7 members Executive Committee. It has 22 organizational and 246 individual Members.

Alliance of Early Childhood Development Nepal

Bangladesh ECD Network (BEN) is a forum of stakeholders including government, non-government and international organizations working in early childhood development (ECD).
BEN was formally launched on 7 September 2005 in a national conference of the ECD community. &nbsp;Since inception, BEN has been fulfilling its mission by conducting advocacy, sharing information and experiences, supporting cooperation and building capacity of stakeholders regarding Early Childhood Care and Development. Currently BEN has 131 active members under its umbrella. These include government agencies, UN organizations, international NGOs, academic institutions and national and local NGOs who are active in a significant way in providing services in early childhood development. BRAC Institute of Educational Development (BRAC IED) has been the Secretariat of BEN since its formal inception.
Vision&nbsp;
Age appropriate holistic development of all children under 8 years in Bangladesh&nbsp;
Mission
Ensure wellbeing and optimal and holistic development of young children in Bangladesh through advocacy, capacity building, networking and collaboration.
Goal
To support and encourage organizations, agencies and institutions to generate commitment to and investment in children&rsquo;s optimal and holistic development in Bangladesh
&nbsp;

Bangladesh ECD Network (BEN)

Bhutan ECCD Network is the national alliance for Early Childhood Care and Development and involves members from all sectors and levels of government, civil society and other stakeholders.&nbsp;

Karma Gayleg

The Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Council is a government agency mandated by Republic Act 10410, or the Early Years Act of 2013, to act as the primary agency supporting the government&rsquo;s ECCD programs that cover health, nutrition, early education, and social services for children ages 0-4 years. It is responsible for developing policies and programs, providing technical assistance and support to ECCD service providers, and monitoring ECCD service benefits and outcomes. Mission
To Contribute to nation-building by ensuring that all Filipino children aged 0 to 4 are provided with developmentally-appropriate experiences to address their holistic needs
&nbsp;
Vision
By 2030, the ECCD Council shall have fully implemented a comprehensive, integrative, and sustainable National System for Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) throughout the country

Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Council

National Coalition for Integrative and Holistic ECCD
Koalisi Nasional Pengembangan Anak Usia Dini Holistik Integratif
&nbsp;
About Us
National Coalition for Integrative and Holistic Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) is the first and leading national network of civil society organizations focusing on ECCD development in indonesia. Established in 2009 by a small group of international NGOs, it has evolved into a well- respected network with more than 30 organizations working all across Indonesia.
&nbsp;
Our Purpose
The coalition is founded to serves as a platform for sharing of knowledge and learning within the country. The coalition also strives to capture good practices from outside Indonesia to contribute to the development of integrative and holistic ECCD in Indonesia.

National Coalition of ECD HI in Indonesia

&nbsp;
The Network on Early Childhood Care and Development (NECCD) was established in Cambodia in early 1996, initiated by Enfants du Cambodge (currently Enfants &amp; D&eacute;veloppement). Initially, a subcommittee on ECCD was formed and gathered a few NGOs to participate in the network such as &nbsp;Partage - Bondos Komar, &nbsp;World Concern, Red Bana (Save the Children Norway) and Enfants Refugi&eacute;s du Monde. Recently, there are 22 members of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) including, Plan international Cambodia, RTI international, Save the Children, Bandos Komar, NEP, ADRA, World Vision International Cambodia, United world schools, REACH SIEM REAP, Finn Church Aid, CCAFO, Khmer NGO for Education, Krousar Yoeung Association, Caring for Young Khmer (CYK), Green Umbrella NGO, Catholic Relief Services, Pour un Sourire d'Enfant, Shine Cambodia, Epic Arts, CCAFO, Khmer NGO for Education, KAPE, CCS Italy, and Adian Hope.
NECCD has been very successful as a platform to share information between civil society, international organization and government. It has also made a significant contribution to building capacity and good collaboration among members. The goal of NECCD &nbsp;is &nbsp;to &nbsp;promote &nbsp;and &nbsp;expand &nbsp;ECCD &nbsp;and &nbsp;ECE &nbsp;interventions &nbsp;and &nbsp;improve &nbsp;the quality of ECCD in response to the needs of Cambodian Children through:&nbsp;
Support in monitoring the progress on the objectives, policies, strategic implementation, policy action implementation, progress of outcome indicators, and implementation of programs and policy activities related to ECCD.
&bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Strengthen capacity of members, share experience and information among members to foster &nbsp;good &nbsp;collaboration, innovation and scale up of best practice among civil society organizations at national level in Cambodia.

ECCD Network Cambodia

Dr. Clifford Meyers, Board of Directors, Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC)
Reflection from participants &ndash; check the commitment wall&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Welcome on Day 4 

Whole Day Session

Speaker: Hon Dr. Bimala Rai Poudyal, Member of the National Assembly, Nepal
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Dr. Bimala Rai Paudyal

Remarks from Members of the Parliament

Dr. Bernadette Daelmans,&nbsp;
Unit Head, Child Health and Development Unit,&nbsp;
MCA at World Health Organisation (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland

Bernadette Daelmans

Keynote Presentation: Impact of air pollution on young children’s well-being and development

Bhushan Tuladhar (Chief of Party, FHI 360 Nepal) USAID Kathmandu Clean Air Program, Citizen Science for Clean Air
 Shweta Bahri (Co-founder for Earth Warriors, India) Age-appropriate climate education for young children
 Kim Duc &amp; Quoc Dat (Co-founders of Think Playgrounds, Vietnam) Practices of renovating public spaces friendly for children and the environment with community participation
 Samita Kaur and Manorama Ekka (Warrior Moms, India) How a collective of mothers from all over India fight for our children's right to breathe clean air
 Q&amp;A&nbsp;

Bhusan Tuladhar

Manorama Ekka

Shweta Bahri

Đạt Ng T Quốc

Caroline Dusabe

Think playgrounds Kim Duc & Quoc Dat

Community-based initiatives on addressing environmental issues as these affect young children

Evelyn Santiago
Executive Director
Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Chilhdood (ARNEC)

Evelyn Santiago

Summary session – Highlights of the conference 

Closing message :&nbsp;
George Laryea-Adjei, Regional Director for UNICEF South Asia
 Vote of thanks:&nbsp;
Dr. Clifford Meyers, Board of Director, ARNEC
&nbsp;
Video of thanks

Agenda

Speakers.css-1f6omqm{margin:0;font-size:1.4rem;font-weight:500;line-height:1.5;color:#5d5d5d;font-family:'Poppins',sans-serif;margin-left:0.8rem;}80 Speakers

H.E. Dr. Hang Chuon Naron

H.E.Mrs.Fazilatun Nessa Indira MP

H.E. Dr. Ifereimi Waqainabete

H.E.Dasho Dechen Wangmo

H.E. Mr. Jai Bir Rai

H,E. Wilbur Heine

Dr. Bimala Rai Paudyal

Sheldon Shaeffer

Nyi Nyi Thaung

Myo-Zin Nyunt

George Laryea-Adjei

James Cairns

Erinna Dia

Cecilia Vaca Jones

Bernadette Daelmans

Mita Gupta

Teresita G. Inciong

Tim Huang

Sukhna Sawhney

Caroline Essame

Deki Pem

Phillip Erbele

Adrian Cerezo

Samyukta Subramanian

Nicole Rodger

Jessica Hampton

Tan Beng Luan

Axel Berthome

Meenakshi Dogra

Margaret Sims

Maggie Koong

Sara Dang

Evelyn Santiago

Namrata Edwards

Priyamvada das

Dr Renu Singh

Paul Mitchell

Alisi Rabukawaqa

Joe Waters

Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson

Ellie Taylor

Lisa Kilgariff

Peck Gee Chua

Karel Strooband

Setyaki Kusumadireja

Bhusan Tuladhar

Shweta Bahri

Think playgrounds Kim Duc & Quoc Dat

Đạt Ng T Quốc

Rowan Ainslie

Prof. Benjamin Horton

Dr. Venita Kaul

Joy Sampang

Joyce Orillosa

Melissa Bartolome

Claudia Cappa

Caroline Dusabe

Samita Kaur

Manorama Ekka

Clifford Meyers

Baela Jamil

Dipu Shakya

Marc De Rosnay

Md. Ramjan Ali

Karma Dyenka

Tshedar N/A

Lia Guerrero

Self Richter

Deepta Chopra

Chavi Vohra

Bimbika Sijapati Basnett

Amanda Devercelli

Jay Weatherill

Keiko Nowacka

Sumitra Misha

Mugyeong Moon

Siva prasad Behera

Joel Lasam

Speakers80 Speakers

Booth16 Booth