,
INVESTING IN ECD
An effective pathway for building resilience and boosting sustainable development
Conference Concept Note
Background
Early Childhood Care and Development
(ECCD) is the cornerstone of a child’s
physical, emotional, linguistic, and cognitive
development and overall well-being. It serves
as a critical determinant of long-term human
development and is strongly associated
with a child’s potential for success in later
life (Yoshikowa & Kabay, 2015). However,
there are adverse experiences children may
face, including extreme poverty, abuse, or
neglect, which can significantly impact the
development of the child’s brain architecture.
When such adversities are severe, frequent,
or prolonged, and the child left without
adequate adult support, they can lead to a
phenomenon known as toxic stress identified
by the Center on the Developing Child
(n.d.) as having a detrimental effect on the
developing brain and impeding a child’s
long-term capacity to learn and grow.
1
Resilience, in the context of early childhood
development (ECD), refers to the ability of
children to adapt and overcome adverse
early experiences. Science demonstrates that
offering stable, responsive, and nurturing
relationships during a child’s earliest years can
help build resilience and act as a powerful
counterforce to the damaging effects of
early life stress. These relationships hold
the potential to not only prevent but even
reverse the detrimental impact of such stress.
It is essential to underscore the integral
relationship between (ECD) and the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Integrating ECD in the SDGs, particularly in
Target 4.2, signifies a profound understanding
of how early childhood experiences
significantly influence an individual’s long-
term well-being. The SDGs have set a crucial
target to ensure that ‘all girls and boys have
access to quality early childhood development,
care, and pre-primary education by 2030.’
 CONFERENCE CONCEPT NOTE

This target underscores the urgency
of investing in ECD as a powerful tool for
nurturing resilience in children, which in
turn helps to create a robust basis for
sustainable development.
Despite this global recognition of ECD,
and nine years after the adoption of the SDGs,
close to their end date of 2030, there are still
areas where significant further efforts are
required. Some of the ECCD challenges in
the region include:
●  nly two-thirds of children between
O 2023). These crises significantly affect
the ages of 36 to 59 months are
developmentally on track (UNESCO,
2022). This reveals developmental
disparities linked to challenges such
as adversity and limited resources.
●  hile participation rates increased
W disproportionately impacted across all of the
in the region, especially in Eastern
Asia, these participation rates varied
across countries in the region due to
serious disparities, especially in terms
of location and wealth.
●  hildren living in high-income
C crucial for these children.
countries remain far more likely to
be enrolled in pre-primary education
(83 percent) than children living in
low-income countries (22 percent)
(UNICEF, 2019).
●  ome learning environments for
H – and this requires policies that support the
young children frequently lack
stimulation, especially in terms of
the availability of children’s books
and playthings.
●  ver half of the world’s children
O aligned with the principles of sustainable
have experienced severe violence –
physical, sexual, and emotional and also
due to neglect, of whom 64 per cent
are in South Asia (UNICEF, n.d.).
Such existing ECD challenges are
compounded by a range of crises, including
the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change,
air pollution, conflicts, displacement, and
disasters. Climate change is especially
threatening in the highly exposed Asia Pacific
region, where over half of global disaster
losses occur annually. By 2100, this could
result in GDP losses of 32% in Southeast
Asia, 35% in India, and 24% in all of South
Asia, with the Pacific Island Countries also
facing severe climate impacts (World Bank,
young children’s well-being. Children under
five bear nearly 90% of the global health
burden due to climate change (Sheffield &
Landrigen) with over 1.7 million premature
deaths per year caused by pollution and toxic
substances (WHO, 2017). Young children are
nurturing care components. And vulnerable
children, due to factors such as poverty,
disability, location, and language, have
become even more vulnerable. Resilience-
building efforts and targeted support are
It is essential to strengthen the resilience
and adaptive capacity of individuals, their
families and communities, and their societies
in response to the effects of these crises.
ECD is a key building block in this process
youngest children. Resulting ECD programs
must be scaled up, appropriately financed, of
high quality, distributed equitably, gender-
responsive, conflict- and climate-sensitive,
development, and targeted particularly at
the most marginalized.

2
 CONFERENCE CONCEPT NOTE

Conference Theme Conference Sub-Themes

and Objectives
This year’s ARNEC conference is committed
to driving action and equipping policy
makers and practitioners with effective tools
to address adversity in early childhood and
has the following theme:
Investing in ECD: An effective
pathway for building
resilience and boosting
sustainable development
The conference sub-themes provide
opportunities for presenters and participants
to share evidence, policies, strategies, tools, and
practical solutions that, in the context of the
crises described above, can increase greater
understanding and commitment to a more
resilient and adaptive ECD system in support of
more nurturing and sustainable environments
for young children across contexts.
✓ S
 ubtheme 1: Building resilient
learners (e.g., social, and emotional
learning competencies)

Specifically, the conference aims to:

● Raise awareness among policy
✓ S
 ubtheme 2: Building resilient
homes and families (e.g., playful
makers and practitioners on the
parenting, ECD and play, and
increasingly severe impacts of multiple
pedagogical and psychological support
crises on the nurturing care for young
for parents and caregivers)
children and their wellbeing and further
development;
● Raise the profile of diverse voices, ✓ S
 ubtheme 3: Building resilient
especially from the Asia Pacific region – programs and services (e.g., in
from policymakers and practitioners, as regard to greater support to the ECD
well as across public and private sectors; workforce, guidance regarding social-
emotional learning competencies
● Strengthen advocacy efforts
for teachers, play-based pedagogies,
within the region on how ECD
climate-sensitive curriculum, etc.
policies, programs, and services need
to adapt and gain traction to become
instrumental in building resilience in ✓ S
 ubtheme 4: Building resilient
the face of these crises; ECD systems (e.g., supportive
● Share knowledge, tools and
policies and financing, accountability
innovative practices developed at the to global, regional, and national
national, sub-national, community and ECD commitments)
program levels to promote resilience
amongst young children, their families,
communities, and ECD system
and workforce; and
● Strengthen multi-sectoral

partnerships among ECD and other

stakeholders to support interventions that
promote and/or strengthen resilience
and create nurturing and sustainable
environments for young children.

3

Within these subthemes, the overall
questions that we will seek to address are:
1. H
 ow is ECD critical for building
resilience towards sustainable develop­
ment in the face of current and future
crises? Why is there a need to start
building resilience at an early age and
how can this best be done?
2. W
 hat specific interventions or
strategies can be adapted in support
of resilient learners, families, ECD
programmes, services, and the ECD
system as a whole?
3. H
 ow can the ECD workforce be
supported to help strengthen the
resilience and adaptability of
young children?
4. W
 hat policies need to be put in place
supported by adequate financing to
ensure resilient ECD systems?
5. W
 hat resources and tools do we
have in the region to foster better
collaboration and learning to support
resilience-building.
References
Center on the Developing Child
Harvard University. (n.d.). In brief: The
Impact of Early Adversity on Children’s
Development. Available in https://
developingchild.harvard.edu/
resources/inbrief-the-impact-
of-early-adversity-on-childrens-
development/#:~:text=Significant%20
early%20adversity%20can%20
lead,individual’s%20physical%20an-
d%20mental%20health.
Sheffield, P. E. & Landrigan, P. J. (2010).
Global Climate Change and Children’s
Health: Threats and Strategies for
Prevention. Available in https://doi.
org/10.1289/ehp.1002233.
CONFERENCE CONCEPT NOTE
Conference Host and Organizers
The regional conference on ECD is organized
by ARNEC and hosted by the ECCE Council
of Malaysia.
Format of the Conference
The conference will be held face-to-face
for four days: May 27-30, 2024 including
a one-day pre-conference workshop
and/or site visit.
The Conference will include a combination of:
● Remarks from Senior Government officials
● Plenary sessions with keynote speakers/
resource persons covering the
conference theme and sub-themes.
● Panel discussions with regional experts
and country representatives
● Paper presentations
Pre-conference workshops and site/study
visits will also be offered – details to follow.
Tentative Program
To follow.
UNESCO. (2022). Early Childhood Care World Bank. (2023). Reviving Growth.
and Education in Asia Pacific Policy Brief. Available in https://openknowledge.
Available in https://unesdoc.unesco. worldbank.org/server/api/core/
org/ark:/48223/pf0000381973. bitstreams/b10254c9-4990-4099-
b654-4402d7b9a991/content.
UNICEF. (2019). A World Ready to Learn:
Prioritizing Quality Early Childhood Yoshikawa, H. & Kabay, S. (2015). The
Education. Available in https://data. evidence base on early childhood care and
unicef.org/resources/a-world-ready- education in global contexts. Available
to-learn-report/. in https://unesdoc.unesco.org/
UNICEF. (n.d.) End Violence against ark:/48223/pf0000232456.
Children. Available in https://www.
unicef.org/india/what-we-do/end-
violence-against-children.
WHO. (2017). The cost of a polluted
environment: 1.7 million child deaths a year,
says WHO. Available in https://www.
who.int/news/item/06-03-2017-the-
cost-of-a-polluted-environment-1-7-
million-child-deaths-a-year-says-who.
4
 CONFERENCE CONCEPT NOTE

Keynote speaker Joan Lombardi, Ph.D. is Director of Early

Joan Lombardi, Ph.D
Director, Early Opportunities Initiative
Opportunities and an Adjunct Professor the
Stanford Center on Early Childhood. Over the
past 50 years, Joan has made significant
contributions in the area of child and
family policy as an innovative leader and
policy advisor to national and international
organizations and foundations and as a
public servant. Her work focuses on young
children, families, and communities, and
the intersection of health, education, and
family support. Joan served as the first Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood during
the Obama Administration and the first
Director of the Child Care Bureau during the
Clinton Administration.
List of other speakers to follow.

List of resources that can be featured in panel discussions,

pre-conference workshops, and paper presentations:

●  sia-Pacific Early Childhood Care and

A ●
Education: Teacher Training Handbook
for Social and Emotional Learning
(UNESCO and ARNEC)
● ECD Workforce Tools (from R4D and
ISSA, other Regional Networks)
● Playful Parenting Framework from
Prescription to Play Project in Bhutan
(Save the Children)
● Regional Guidance on Building/
Strengthening National ECD Networks
(ARNEC)
● ARNEC Connections – 2023 edition
on Playful Parenting Programs (ARNEC)
E CD and Climate Change Advocacy
and Communications Toolkit (ARNEC,
Save the Children, Vital Strategies)
● Micro-studies from the countries on
ECD and climate change (ARNEC)
● Regional Guidance Document on
Playful Parenting in the Asia-Pacific
Region (ARNEC, countries)
● Conflict sensitivity report, ECDiE resources
(Plan International)
● Other resources from partners and
members at the country level