A global call to action for early childhood

CG SECRETARIAT REPORT
55
understand a changed reality. These
five main areas are:
1. Children born today must
participate and learn to act in their
own interests as they grow into
adulthood into a world impacted by
climate change. Children have a right
to know what kind of world they are
growing up in, what is changing it and
how. They need the kind of conceptual
skills, understandings and life skills
to deal with the fast-changing reality
and to act on it. Existing strategies to
ensure learning-by-doing, to introduce
practical skills and strategies and
knowledge into the curriculum, must
be accelerated based on the core
principle that children must be enabled
to participate.
2. Anticipation of climate change
effects has become a critical
driver in the way we think about
programming and what we
prioritise. Re-programming across the
work undertaken in support of health
(also echoed in the Policy Statement
of the Committee on Environmental
Health of the American Academy
of Pediatrics Global Climate Change
and Children’s Health, 29 October
2007), water and sanitation, education
development, and disaster risk
reduction and emergencies is needed
to ensure that climate change effects
are anticipated and that strategies are
developed for coping, adjusting, and
preventing further impacts.
3. Subregional programming is
essential to build response and
planning capacity across countries.
Climate change effects such as
those caused by intense hurricanes
can reduce in a matter of hours an
emerging middle-income country
into an aid-dependent country with
a negative growth rate. We cannot
predict which countries will be most
affected and therefore we need to
sustain active cooperation agreements
in all countries to strengthen intraregional
collaboration and mutual
support.
4. Strategic inter-agency
partnerships need to be forged
with climate change scientists
and environmental agencies. Each
country and subregion needs to work
with the IPCC scientists, UNEP, and
national agencies to project adaptation
and mitigation measures required and
to consider programming requirements.
Furthermore, there needs to be a
fundamental questioning leading to the
exploration of different paradigms for
the development of societies likely to
be not only impacted but also changed
in functioning by climate change.
5. Advocacy. Advocacy interventions
with governments have to now address
the need to respond to the causes
and impacts of climate change as
part of the process of improving the
situation of children. This will entail
highlighting the need for deep cuts in
global greenhouse gas emissions and
the need for climate change adaptation
strategies to be included in national
sustainable development and poverty
reduction programming.
What kind of strategic interventions
can we make in ECCD programming?
Initial ideas include:
• Dedicate technical expertise
to develop guidelines for
the re-programming of existing
programmes to reflect anticipation
of climate change impacts and to
programme for their consequences for
very young children. The World Bank
is already doing programme relevant
climate sensitivity analysis across its
entire development portofolio and it
may be possible to learn from their
experiences in this regard.
• Integrate a climate change
dimension to situational analyses
to raise the fundamental questions
that need to be addressed for
individual countries and the options
for addressing them. This is critical for
focusing attention on the youngest
children.
• Provide leadership for an interagency
report on Climate Change
Impacts and Consequences for Children
Born in the Next 5 Years: What Needs
to Be Done in collaboration with IPCC.
This can build on the work set out
in the UNDP Human Development
Report 2007/8 on the impact of climate
change (to be published 27 November
2007).
• Advocate for urgent
implementation of child-centered
and child-participatory learning
strategies in early childhood to effect
the attitudinal and behavioural changes
needed to ensure the survival and
development of the next generation.
• Urge governments to implement
IMMEDIATELY relevant adaptation,
mitigation, and reduction measures,
consistent with each country’s
contribution to the threat of global
warming and capacity to respond.
• Establish mechanisms for
strengthening inter-country cooperation
and mutual support, making young
children visible in strategic planning
and implementation.
• BUILD AWARENESS. EDUCATE
THE PUBLIC and key stakeholders
about the potential impact of climate
change on young children and the
kinds of responses that will be needed.
For more information on
background, presentations by
Leonard Nurse, and concrete action
points, see http://www.ecdgroup.
com/climatechange.asp
COORDINATORS’ NOTEBOOK: ISSUE 29