Young Children in Humanitarian and COVID-19 Crises

The long-term consequences of COVID-19 have been tough for children around the world, but even more so for young children already in humanitarian crisis, whether due to conflict, natural disasters, or economic and political upheaval. This book investigates how organizations around the world responded to these dual challenges, identifying solutions, and learning opportunities to help to support young children in ongoing and future crises. Drawing on research and voices from the Global South, this book showcases innovations to mobilize new funds and re-allocate existing resources to protect children during the pandemic. It provides important evidence on understudied and overlooked vulnerable populations, recognizing that researchers from the Global South are best positioned to fill these research gaps, contextualize findings, and support the uptake and adoption of recommendations by local decision-makers and practitioners in those same contexts. The findings in this book will be important for practitioners, policy makers and donors working in or interested in humanitarian contexts, on early childhood development, or early childhood education. The book will also be useful to students and researchers working in these fields. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Dr. Sweta Shah is currently the co-founder and CEO of ChildArise (www.childarise.org). She has a PhD in Education from University of London, Institute of Education and over 20 years of experience in the development and humanitarian sectors, and over 15 years in early childhood development. This is her second book. Lucy Bassett is an Associate Professor at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, co-Director of the Humanitarian Collaborative, at the University of Virginia, and co-founder of ChildArise. She has worked to support young children through international organizations, NGOs, academia, and as a preschool teacher. This is her second book.

Foreword Introduction 1. Supporting Young Children Affected by Crisis 2. Evidence from Practice and Research: Remote Service Delivery for Early Childhood Development in Humanitarian Settings 3. Pashe Achhi: Supporting Children and Caregivers in Bangladesh During the COVID-19 Pandemic 4. Gindegi Goron: Multi-Crisis Remote Parenting Program in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh 5. Parenting Support for Refugee and Vulnerable Communities in Lebanon and Jordan during COVID-19 and a Humanitarian Crisis 6. Jugar para Soñar: Play-based Early Education for Venezuelan Children on the Move in Colombia during COVID-19 7. Doing It Better with Less: Rethinking Radio for Early Learning during COVID-19 and Other Emergencies 8. COVID-19 Responsive ECD Programming on Sesame Street: Adaptations and Innovations from Sesame Offices in the Global South 9. Formative Research Adaptations and Innovations: Case Studies in Developing Global Early Learning Video Content During COVID-19 10. Sisters of Peace: Para-counselors lead Psychosocial Support for Rohingya children and families during COVID-19 11. Strengthening the Capacity of Early Childhood Leaders During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experience from the Philippines 12. Conclusion