Resource Hub► The young child in crisis: The Ukraine conflict and beyond

ECPC joins with global networks in the call for emergency response and humanitarian action for children and families traumatized by war and violent conflict.

A Ukrainian refugee child reacts as he boards a bus after arriving at Hendaye train station, southwestern France, Wednesday, March 9, 2022. About 200 Ukrainian refugees are arriving in the French Atlantic coast town of Hendaye, where local authorities are greeting them in the train station and offering them temporary lodging. They are among 2 million people, mostly women and children, who have fled fighting in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion two weeks ago and are seeking refuge around Europe. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)

By the ECPC News Team, 9 March 2022

The Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN), the Early Childhood Peace Consortium (ECPC), Moving Minds Alliance, the International Step by Step Association (ISSA), the Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC), the Africa Early Childhood Network (AfECN), and the Arab Network for Early Childhood Development (ANECD), are deeply concerned as we watch the violent conflict and humanitarian crisis unfold in Ukraine. Sadly, the children caught up in this conflict will be the most adversely affected. We must put the protection, health, learning, well-being, and developmental needs of Ukraine’s young children, 2 million children under the age of 5, at the heart of our response. The instability and resulting wounds and trauma that are being inflicted on children and families living in Ukraine, and who are now refugees, are tragic, and without any intervention will be long-lasting from generation to generation. The global community must act now.

· READ the full Joint Statement on Early Childhood Development and the Ukraine Crisis.

►We urge you to consider sharing this joint statement with your constituencies and governmental representatives to urge them to prioritize the humanitarian aid response to children and families in Ukraine and those displaced in neighboring countries.

There can be no peace without justice for all children.

by Rima Salah, ECPC Chair

04 March 2022 — ECPC Chair, Rima Salah mobilizes the ECPC membership and global community to take action on the plight of vulnerable children and families caught in violent conflict in Ukraine and surrounding countries, and around the globe.

· READ the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Rima Salah, PhD is Former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, Former Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, Former Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the U.N. mission in Central African Republic and Chad, served on the United Nations High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, and is at the Yale Child Study Center.

ECPC member statements and appeals

A woman and child, who were evacuated from areas on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital, look out the window of a bus after arriving at a triage point in Kyiv, Ukraine, Weds., March 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

►We urge you to consider sharing the following joint statements and appeals with your constituencies and governmental representatives to urge them to prioritize the humanitarian aid response to children and families in Ukraine and those displaced in neighboring countries.

1. International Network on Peace Building with Young Children (INPB). Joint Statement on Ukraine from The International Network on Peace Building with Young Children (3 March 2022)
2. International Step by Step Association (ISSA). ISSA stands for all young children and families impacted by the war in Ukraine (4 March 2022)
3. International Step by Step Association (ISSA), & Eurochild (co-leaders of the First Years, First Priority Campaign on ECD in Europe). Statement: Young children must come first (3 March 2022)
4. NGO Committee on Migration, Subcommittee on Children in Migration. Appeal to Protect Children and Families Forcibly Displaced from Ukraine (25 February 2022)
5. Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children. Joint Statement on the situation in Ukraine by the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and on Violence against Children (25 February 2022)
6. UNICEF. Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell calling for a suspension of hostilities to carry out urgent humanitarian action in Ukraine (28 February 2022)
7. UNICEF. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell’s remarks at the Joint Launch of the Humanitarian Flash Appeal and Regional Refugee Response Plan, Ukraine (1 March 2022)
8. UNICEF appeal. War in Ukraine poses immediate threat to children.
9. World Vision. Ukraine crisis humanitarian need grows with children at heightened risk of trauma and exploitation

►If you would like additional information or would like to speak with an ECPC representative, please contact us at info@ecdpeace.org.

Statements and appeals by other global agencies

A child who fled the war from neighboring Ukraine looks through a bus window in Przemysl, Poland, Wednesday, March 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

1. Alliance for Peacebuilding. Our Clarifying Moment: A Global Call To Action (3 March 2022)
2. Eurochild. Eurochild stands in solidarity with the children of Ukraine
3. IOM UN Migration. Statement on the Situation in Ukraine: IOM Director General António Vitorino (24 February 2022)
4. IOM UN Migration. Discrimination and Racism Against Third Country Nationals Fleeing Ukraine Must End: IOM Director General (3 Mar 2022)
5. IOM UN Migration. Joint Statement: Act Now to Save Lives and Prevent Migrants from Going Missing (7 March 2022)
6. Regional Refugee Response Plan, UkraineSituation. Summary and Inter-Agency Funding Requirements (March-August2022)
7. UNESCO. Ukraine: UNESCO statement following the adoption of the UN General Assembly resolution (3 March 2022)
8. United Nations. Ukraine Crisis: Protecting civilians ‘Priority Number One’; Guterres releases $20M for humanitarian support (24 February 2022)
9. United Nations. Office of the High Commission on Human Rights (OHCHR). 49th session of the Human Rights Council. Item 2: Annual Report and Oral Update by the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the activities of her Office and recent human rights developments. Statement by Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (7 March 2022)

Updates

1. Child10. Joint recommendations. Protect children (at risk of) going missing, violence, and exploitation due to the Russian war in Ukraine. (25 March 2022)
2. Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack. Statement by GCPEA Executive Director, Diya Nijhowne, on Attacks on Education in Ukraine. GCPEA strongly condemns the attacks on kindergartens, schools, and universities, in Ukraine (10 March 2022)
3. Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). OSCE States need to strengthen anti-trafficking prevention measures amid humanitarian crisis in Ukraine (10 March 2022)

News, reports, and briefs

1. ABC News. Mental health effects of Ukraine war zone on children (3 March 2022
2. BBC News. Chaos, upheaval, and exhaustion for Ukraine’s disabled children (9 March 2022)
3. Internal Displacement Monitory Centre. Conflict in Ukraine: What do we know about the internal displacement situation so far? (March 2022)
4. Migration Policy Institute. Video recording: Briefing on Ukraine: Avenues to Safety and Meeting Immediate Needs (8 March 2022)
5. Nurturing Care for Early Childhood Development. Nurturing care for children living in humanitarian settings. Thematic brief, 2020.
6. Republic of Estonia. Ministry of Education and Research. Children and youngsters from Ukraine can pursue education at all levels in Estonia (09 March 2022)
7. Save the Children. Three ripple effects of the Ukraine Crisis on children around the world. (4 March 2022)
8. Statelessness and the Ukraine crisis response. Information on the situation in Ukraine, including a list of organisations providing advice to stateless people fleeing Ukraine
9. Ukraine Education Sector. Ukraine Education Cluster Secondary Data Review Report (5 March 2022)
10. UNICEF (ECPC member organization). Children Are Bearing Brunt of Intensifying Crisis in Ukraine (2 February 2022)
11. UNICEF (ECPC member organization). Core committments for children in humanitarian action (October 2020)
12. UNICEF (ECPC member organization). One week into conflict in Ukraine, half a million children become refugees. UNICEF warns of mounting risks for children as conflict intensifies in populated areas (3 March 2022)

Updates

1. Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine. Displaced Children, Youth, and Families Traumatized by War and Violent Conflict in Ukraine and Beyond (9 June 2022). Interview with ECPC Co-founder James F. Leckman, M.D., Ph.D.
2. UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. Doha: UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict in Qatar to Officially Open Analysis and Outreach Hub (9 June 2022)
3. UNICEF (ECPC member organization). Childcare in Humanitarian Crises Report. Programming Models For Acute Onset Emergencies (22 May 2022).
4. Arigatou International. Investing in Integrated Services to Prevent and Respond to Violence against Children: A conversation at the margins of the Human Rights Council. Moderated by ECPC member Dr. Najat Maalla M’jid, United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children. Webinar video recording. (22 March 2022)
5. UNICEF (ECPC member organization). 3 things to know about Blue Dots. UNICEF is working with UNHCR, local authorities and partners to bring safety, stability and advice to families fleeing the war in Ukraine.
6. European Network on Statelessness. Stateless people and people at risk of statelessness forcibly displaced from Ukraine (10 March 2022)
7. Kids in Need of Defense (KIND). Note on Unaccompanied Children Fleeing From Ukraine (March 2022)
8. Moving Minds Alliance. Early childhood development in humanitarian standards and guidance documents (July 2021)
9. PBS Radio Times. Ukraine’s children and the trauma of war. Guests include ECPC member Theresa Betancourt, Salem Professor and Director of the Research Program on Children and Adversity (RPCA), Boston College School of Social Work (16 March 2022)
10. UN News. Ukraine: ‘We need peace now’ declares Guterres, warning of global hunger meltdown (14 March 2022)
11. Yale School of Public Health. YSPH faculty, students discuss humanitarian concerns in Ukraine and elsewhere. Panelists include ECPC members Kaveh Khoshnood and Dr. James F. Leckman (21 March 2022)

How to talk to children about conflict and war

CNN News with Ana Cabrera — Theresa Betancourt (ECPC member)

UPDATE ► CNN News with Ana Cabrera — Guest, Professor Theresa Betancourt (ECPC member). What can parents do to help Ukrainian children cope with war trauma? (01 April 2022)

1. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). How to Talk to Children About What’s Happening in Ukraine. These resources are a starting point for addressing trauma. (24 February 2022)
2. Associated Press (AP) News. Honesty, reassurance: How to talk to kids about Ukraine (25 February 2022)
3. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). (2022). Talking to children about war. Offers information for caregivers on how to talk to children about war. This fact sheet includes the potential impact and considerations when talking to children about war, how to start the conversation, understanding media coverage, and how to foster resilience.
4. The New York Times. In European Classrooms, Questions About a War So Close to Home. As many in Europe have grappled with the shock of facing a war on their doorstep, teachers say they are facing tough questions posed about the conflict by worried children. (31 March 2022)
5. Sesame Street in Communities. Displacement and Resettlement. Discover printables, videos, and more on topics to help the families you work with. Developed by ECPC member organization Sesame Workshop
6. UNICEF. How to talk to your children about conflict and war 8 tips to support and comfort your children.

Update

1. NPR Goats & Soda. The war is taking a toll on Ukraine’s kids. Psychologists share how parents can help. Story includes interview with ECPC member Theresa Betancourt, Salem Professor and Director of the Research Program on Children and Adversity (RPCA), Boston College School of Social Work (22 March 2022)

Other resources and hubs

1. Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE). INEE has curated a collection of tools and resources to support the provision of education and mental health and wellbeing of practitioners, teachers, students, caregivers, and others. (8 March 2022)
2. Inter-agency Standing Committee. Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, Humanitarian Response in Ukraine and Neighbouring Countries (26 February 2022)
3. IOM UN Migration. Guidelines to protect migrants in countries experiencing conflict or natural disaster
4. The Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Minimum Services Package, a resource for humanitarian actors, is directed at program planners, coordinators, donors, implementing partners, and technical advisors.
5. Missing Children Ukraine. Resource hub: Support to missing children and their families fleeing Ukraine
6. NGO Committee on Migration (ECPC member organization). Resource List: Protecting, Supporting, and Educating Children in Migration, Refugee, and Displacement Contexts Around the World (13 October 2022)
7. Scholars at Risk Network works with its global network of higher education institutions around the world to arrange short-term, temporary research and teaching positions for threatened scholars. The network also provides advisory, referral, and career support services for scholars.
8. Sesame Workshop (ECPC member organization). Watch, Play, Learn: Early Learning Videos. Bringing playful early learning to children affected by crisis.
9. Sesame Street in Communities. Displacement and Resettlement (Resources in Pashto, Dari, Ukranian, Russian). Discover printables, videos, and more on topics to help the families you work with. Developed by ECPC member organization Sesame Workshop
10. Telefono Azzurro’s Ukraine Emergency Campaign is committed to helping and protecting all the minors whose lives are in immediate danger due to the emergency in Ukraine. Through the 116.000 service, it receives reports of missing, sighted, and found children and adolescents together with the European partners of Missing Children Europe. Telefono Azzurro is available through the service 114 Emergenza Infanzia (Emergency Childhood) in multilanguage and through the helpline 19696.
11. UNICEF (ECPC member organization). Guidance for protecting displaced and refugee children in and outside of Ukraine. How authorities and aid workers can help keep children displaced by the war in Ukraine safe from trafficking and other forms of exploitation and abuse.
12. UNICEF (ECPC member organization). 3 things to know about Blue Dots. UNICEF is working with UNHCR, local authorities and partners to bring safety, stability and advice to families fleeing the war in Ukraine.
13. UNICEF (ECPC member organization). Caring for the Caregiver (training module). “This resource aims to provide evidence-based messages, practical guidance, case studies, and resources that can be used to promote parents’ and caregivers’ mental health, with a focus on adolescent caregivers.”
14. UNICEF (ECPC member organization). The Early Childhood Resource Pack is “designed to help programme planners and managers understand the basic elements of the best start in life for children. It combines advocacy arguments with experiences, exercises, and information that can be used to develop skills and understand programming for young children in development and emergency situations.”
15. UNICEF (ECPC member organization). The Adolescent Kit for Expression and Innovation is a package of guidance, tools, activities, and supplies to support adolescents ages 10–18, especially those who are affected by humanitarian crises.
16. UNICEF (ECPC member organization), Save the Children, the MHPSS Collaborative, and WHO. I Support My Friends
17. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Humanitarian Response: Ukraine (Flash appeals, response plans, information for affected people, situation reports, datasets, useful links, and more.)
18. UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. Practical Guidance for Mediators to Protect Children in Situations of Armed Conflict.
19. United Nations. Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. Monitory and Reporting Grave Violations.
20. World Health Organization (WHO). Doing What Matters in Times of Stress “Doing What Matters in Times of Stress: An Illustrated Guide is a stress management guide for coping with adversity. The guide aims to equip people with practical skills to help cope with stress.” (29 April 2020)

Charitable organizations

1. Charity Navigator. Ukrainian-Russian Crisis. Highly-rated charities involved in humanitarian relief, recovery, and peace-building efforts
2. Fatherly. How to Help Ukraine Right Now: 7 Charitable Organizations to Know (24 February 2022)

About the Early Childhood Peace Consortium (ECPC)

The ECPC is a global movement of United Nations agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations, academia, practitioners, and the private sector focused on sharing scientific and practice-based evidence on how investment in early childhood development (ECD) can contribute to sustainable peace, social cohesion, and social justice. We recognize that investing in ECD is a powerful and cost-effective strategy for reducing violence, poverty, and exclusion and for building peaceful societies.

Visit us at ecdpeace.org

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