This week, I explored the Harvard University’s Global Children’s Initiative website and gained some new insights about early childhood around the globe. I was not aware of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University or their work in the field of early childhood education.
“The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University was founded in 2006 on the belief that the vitality and sustainability of any society depend on the extent to which it expands opportunities early in life for all children to achieve their full potential and engage in responsible and productive citizenship. We view healthy child development as the foundation of economic prosperity, strong communities, and a just society, and our mission is to advance that vision by leveraging science to enhance child well-being through innovations in policy and practice.
“Drawing on the full breadth of intellectual resources available across Harvard University’s schools and affiliated hospitals, the Center generates, translates, and applies knowledge in the service of improving life outcomes for children in the United States and throughout the world”.
The Center is focused on three objectives: to educate high-level decision-makers about the science of learning, behavior and health in children; to support research to expand the global understanding of how healthy development occurs; and to “build leadership capacity in child development research and policy among individuals and institutions in low- and middle-income countries in order to increase the number and influence of diverse perspectives that are contributing to the global movement on behalf of young children”.
The Global Children’s Initiative is currently focusing on early childhood development, children in crisis and conflict situations and mental health in children. They plan to: “educate the leadership of key international agencies, publish and disseminate papers to establish a
strong scientific framework for global work, and conduct systematic communications research to identify the most effective ways to translate the science of child development for global policymakers. They plan to: generate and apply new knowledge that addresses the health and developmental needs of young children in a variety of settings” and assess “quality in early childhood environments and programs in diverse global contexts. They are going to pilot “outcomes linked to malaria control strategies in Zambia; and expand effective interventions to improve preschool quality in Chile”.
With regard to children’s mental health, they are: “assessing the state of child mental health services in China; developing and evaluating family-based strategies to prevent mental health problems in children affected by HIV/AIDS in Rwanda; and addressing child maltreatment and mental health outcomes in three Caribbean nations (Barbados, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname)”. They are currently working with the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health to assess the well-being of children in natural crises. They are looking at children of post-earthquake Chile and Haiti and addressing the acute malnutrition.
Finally, they will focus on “building a sustainable infrastructure to support the productive engagement of Harvard students and faculty in a diversity of global settings. The second dimension focuses on developing opportunities to provide leadership training for individual
researchers, policymakers, and institutions, primarily in the majority world”.
I was very encouraged while researching this website. I had no idea the extent of the global initiative to raise awareness of issues related to early childhood.
Center on the Developing Child. (2011). Harvard University. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/
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