Reports

Around the world rich and poor countries are failing to deliver on the promises made to the world’s youngest children, risking their development and future life chances.

A framework for action to deliver Safe, Non-violent, Inclusive and Effective Learning Environments

This policy brief highlights the needs of children with disabilities in the early years. It then makes a specific case for the promotion of inclusive and equitable pre-primary education as part of a holistic framework of nurturing care support for children with disabilities.

Every child in the world has the right to an education without fear of violence or attack. But every year millions of children and young people have their education disrupted. This Safe Schools briefing outlines the scale and impact of violence and calls for action from governments, donors and the international community.

Theirworld’s #5for5 campaign focuses on the five elements of quality nurturing care needed by every child under five: health, nutrition, play, learning and protection. Even though the importance of these interventions has been thoroughly proven, investment in the 0 to 5 age group is still far too small.

This briefing explores the issue of play and is part of a series of briefings examining the five key elements of quality nurturing care.

Theirworld’s #5for5 campaign focuses on the five elements of quality nurturing care needed by every child under five: health, nutrition, play, learning and protection. Even though the importance of these interventions has been thoroughly proven, investment in the 0 to 5 age group is still far too small.

This briefing explores the issue of nutrition and is part of a series of briefings examining the five key elements of quality nurturing care.

Theirworld’s #5for5 campaign focuses on the five elements of quality nurturing care needed by every child under five: health, nutrition, play, learning and protection. Even though the importance of these interventions has been thoroughly proven, investment in the 0 to 5 age group is still far too small.

This briefing explores the issue of protection and is part of a series of briefings examining the five key elements of quality nurturing care.

Theirworld’s #5for5 campaign focuses on the five elements of quality nurturing care needed by every child under five: health, nutrition, play, learning and protection. Even though the importance of these interventions has been thoroughly proven, investment in the 0 to 5 age group is still far too small.

This briefing explores the issue of learning and is part of a series of briefings examining the five key elements of quality nurturing care.

Theirworld’s #5for5 campaign focuses on the five elements of quality nurturing care needed by every child under five: health, nutrition, play, learning and protection. Even though the importance of these interventions has been thoroughly proven, investment in the 0 to 5 age group is still far too small.

This briefing explores the issue of health and is part of a series of briefings examining the five key elements of quality nurturing care.

While humanitarian responses typically focus on the physical needs of children ages 0 to 5, negative experiences caused by crisis can also lead to poor cognitive and socioemotional development, hampering future learning and increasing the risk for long term health and behaviour problems. Early childhood programmes that provide nurturing care, a safe environment to play and learn, and support for caregivers ensure children not only survive, but have the best start for a good future.

Despite the tremendous need, early childhood development remains seriously under-prioritised in emergency response. This brief outlines the shortfalls in the provision of Safe Spaces for children to grow and thrive in emergency, conflict, or vulnerable environments.

​Poverty, terror and threat of famine have forced 2.7 million people to flee and left 9 million in dire need of humanitarian aid in the Lake Chad Basin. A brief by Theirworld says years of violence and displacement against a backdrop of poverty and shrinking economic opportunity in the region have created a humanitarian crisis on a massive scale.

​In conflict, natural disasters, and other emergencies, girls face particular vulnerabilities and barriers that can frequently prevent them from realising their right to education. Displacement, poverty and the breakdown of familial and social protection mechanisms can place girls at higher risk of sexual abuse, violence, exploitation and early forced marriage.

Conflict and emergencies drive children out of education and into work, forced labour and child marriage​. But ​education in emergencies offers a way to break the cycle of poverty for these children and their families.​​

Affordable, high-quality childcare has multiple benefits for children, families and societies - children do better in school, older children stay in education and adults can go to work. This briefing has five recommendations to achieve universal access to high-quality childcare.

​Young children caught up in conflicts or crises may spend years displaced from their homes. This briefing examines how early childhood development services are crucial to help them cope, develop, learn and thrive.

​39 million girls are at risk because of disasters and conflict. Humanitarian responses are not doing enough to meet their specific needs.

Addressing inequality in donor funding for Early Childhood Development

Below are two donor profiles compiled to support our scorecard Just Beginning: Addressing inequality in donor funding for Early Childhood Development.​

Below we outline the methodology used in our Donor Scorecard Just Beginning: Addressing inequality in donor funding for Early Childhood Development​.

If the global community is serious about keeping its promise to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) by 2030, there is one major intervention that needs to happen: Investing in pre-primary education

​This report offers a snapshot of early childhood development in Africa. This snapshot of equity shows how much more there is to do to ensure every child has the best start in life.

Half of the world’s children are still excluded from the benefits of pre-primary education. The development of millions of children will suffer unless governments step up and increase their commitment to pre-primary education for every child​.

Globally, 80 million children have had their education disrupted by emergencies, with 37 million of them forced out of school - this scorecard examines the scale of the funding crisis and what needs to be done to address it.

Around the world rich and poor countries are failing to deliver on the promises made to the world’s youngest children, risking their development and future life chances.

Promoting improved education and nutrition outcomes for disadvantaged Lebanese and Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon

A severe lack of investment in early years education is putting millions of children at a disadvantage before they even start school, warns a report from Theirworld. 85% of children in low-income countries do not have access to pre-primary education and more than 200 million children under the age of five are at risk of failing to reach their potential.

Investing Smart, Investing Early focuses specifically on business support for early childhood development in Kenya, building on the Global Business Coalition for Education’s business case for early childhood development (2016) as well as the summary guide on family-friendly policies (2017).

A report from Theirworld and KANCO says Kenya has made progress over the past 15 years in improving access to early years care - but more action is needed to ensure every child has the best start in life.

In the wake of the Peshawar school massacre and terrorist attacks on thousands of schools, A World at School launched a 15-point plan for a Pakistan Safe Schools Initiative. It was backed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Meeting at the London Conference on Supporting Syria and the Region in February 2016, the international community recognised that current efforts to support Syria’s displaced population and refugees in neighbouring countries were falling far short of the minimum levels required. Pledges in excess of US$12bn were announced. Those pledges have not been honoured. The gap between pledge and delivery is hurting Syria’s children.

​Turkey has accommodated huge numbers of refugees and is committed to providing education for all children. But it can't do this without the support of the international community. This Theirworld report from 2015 identifies ways this could be done.

​A summary of a Theirworld report from 2015 into the extent of the needs of Syrian refugee children in Lebanon and opportunities for them to access education.

This report by Theirworld and the Global Business Coalition for Education looked at the opportunities for delivering education to Syrian refugee youth in Jordan - and in particular the role technology could play in bridging the skills gap. ​

A series of reports by Theirworld outlined the opportunities to scale up the education response efforts and drive more and better financing and coordination to reach over one million refugee children and young people in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.​

Safe Spaces help babies and young children overcome the physical, emotional and psychological trauma inflicted by emergencies. This report explains the importance of early years support to children's development and how it can help children thrive in adverse circumstances.