Journal on Education in Emergencies: Volume 7, Number 1

The Journal on Education in Emergencies aims to stimulate research and debate about education in emergencies; promote learning informed by evidence; define knowledge gaps and key trends for future research; and publish rigorous scholarly and practitioner work that will set standards for evidence in the field.

ECD CoverIn this special issue on early childhood development (ECD) in emergencies, we present two research articles, five field notes, three commentaries, and two book reviews. This publication brings visibility to early childhood development in emergencies and highlights some of the lessons being learned through efforts to address the needs of young children and families living in humanitarian situations.

The articles explain ECD through various lenses: education, child protection, health and nutrition, mental health and psychosocial support, and responsive caregiving. They underscore the importance of focusing not only on children after birth but also on their mothers during pregnancy and through their children’s early years. The contributors to this special issue provide hope that a pathway toward providing greater support for young children and their families in humanitarian contexts is emerging, and that growing experience and increasing evidence are creating a foundation on which programs that provide ECD in emergencies can build.

The full JEiE Volume 7, Number 1, is available in English. Additionally, each article can be downloaded in both languages by clicking on the titles below.

CCThe Journal on Education in Emergencies, published by the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

23 June 2021 Journal Article Journal on Education in Emergencies (JEiE)

Effects of Two Early Childhood Interventions on the Developmental Outcomes of Children in Post-Earthquake Nepal

In this Research Article, authors Jonathan Seiden, Valeria Kunz, Sara Dang, Matrika Sharma, and Sagar Gyawali provide quasi-experimental evidence of Save the Children’s ECD centers improving preacademic skills in children living in emergency contexts.

23 June 2021 Journal Article Journal on Education in Emergencies (JEiE)

Early Childhood Development in the Aftermath of the 2016 Wildfires in Alberta, Canada

Authors Julie L. Drolet, Caroline McDonald-Harker, Nasreen Lalani, Sarah McGreer, Matthew R. G. Brown, and Peter H. Silverstone argue that ECD service delivery and infrastructure, critically inadequate in the months after wildfires devastated Fort McMurray, Alberta, are a vital part of disaster risk reduction and emergency preparedness.

23 June 2021 Journal Article Journal on Education in Emergencies (JEiE)

Field Note: Home Visiting in the Middle East: Reflections on the Implementation of Reach Up and Learn

In this Field Note, authors Katelin Swing Wilton, Aimée Vachon, Katie Maeve Murphy, Ayat Al Aqra, Abdullah Ensour, Iman Ibrahim, Anas Tahhan, Kayla Hoyer, and Christine Powell outline the International Rescue Committee’s experience adapting a home-visiting ECD intervention for refugees and internally displaced persons in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

23 June 2021 Journal Article Journal on Education in Emergencies (JEiE)

Field Note: Building Resilience and Mitigating the Impact of Toxic Stress in Young Children: A Model for Transforming Parenting and Male Caregiving in El Salvador

In this Field Note, Fabiola A. Lara examines how the rollout of Save the Children’s Toxic Stress Mitigation Model in El Salvador addressed the needs and wellbeing of caregivers, as well as those of children, and engaged fathers and grandfathers in children’s early development in innovative ways.

23 June 2021 Journal Article Journal on Education in Emergencies (JEiE)

Field Note: Implementing a Humanitarian Needs Assessment Framework for Early Childhood Development: Informing Intervention Design for Displaced Rohingya Communities in Bangladesh

In this Field Note, authors Kim Foulds, Naureen Khan, Sneha Subramanian, and Ashraful Haque illustrate how Sesame Workshop brought affected populations to the table to plan the design and scope of an ECD intervention and offer a framework for involving recipients in planning humanitarian programming.

23 June 2021 Journal Article Journal on Education in Emergencies (JEiE)

Field Note: BRAC Humanitarian Play Lab Model: Promoting Healing, Learning and Development for Displaced Rohingya Children

In this Field Note, authors Erum Mariam, Jahanara Ahmad, and Sarwat Sarah Sarwar argue that community participation in the design of ECD centers has led to the creation of learning spaces that foster a sense of belonging and cultural pride for displaced children in Cox’s Bazar, thus supporting their psychosocial wellbeing.

23 June 2021 Journal Article Journal on Education in Emergencies (JEiE)

Field Note: Accessible Strategies to Support Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing in Emergencies: Experience from the Rohingya Refugee Camp

In this Field Note, author Samier Mansur discusses No Limit Generation’s innovative video training platform for aid workers, ECD professionals, educators, and caregivers, and suggests that the scale and accessibility technology-supported capacity-building is a sustainable way to support ECD in humanitarian settings.

23 June 2021 Journal Article Journal on Education in Emergencies (JEiE)

Commentary: Newborns in Fragile and Humanitarian Settings: A Multi-Agency Partnership Roadmap

In this Commentary, authors Saverio Bellizzi, Lori McDougall, Sheila Manji, and Ornella Lincetto discuss how growing recognition of the need for coordinated support for newborns in humanitarian settings led Save the Children, UNICEF, UNHCR, and WHO to develop a seminal mapping of actions to ensure that babies and mothers survive and thrive in emergency contexts.

23 June 2021 Journal Article Journal on Education in Emergencies (JEiE)

Commentary: Supporting Maternal Mental Health and Nurturing Care in Humanitarian Settings

In this Commentary, authors Bernadette Daelmans, Mahalakshmi Nair, Fahmy Hanna, Ornella Lincetto, Tarun Dua, and Xanthe Hunt bring attention to the cascading effects of caregivers’ mental health for children’s development and outline an agenda for interagency priority-setting and research to support mothers’ and newborns’ mental wellbeing.

23 June 2021 Journal Article Journal on Education in Emergencies (JEiE)

Commentary: Children with Developmental Disorders in Humanitarian Settings: A Call for Evidence and Action

In this Commentary, authors Xanthe Hunt, Theresa Betancourt, Laura Pacione, Mayada Elsabbagh, and Chiara Servili present the principles that should guide action to support children with developmental disorders and other disabilities and make recommendations for programming, policy, and future research.

23 June 2021 Journal Article Journal on Education in Emergencies (JEiE)

Book Review: Collaborative Cross-Cultural Research Methodologies in Early Care and Education Contexts, edited by Samara Madrid Akpovo, Mary Jane Moran, and Robyn Brookshire

In this review of Collaborative Cross-Cultural Research Methodologies in Early Care and Education Contexts, edited by Samara Madrid Akpovo, Mary Jane Moran, and Robyn Brookshire, Amy Jo Dowd highlights the practical lessons that this edited volume offers for conducting ECD research that is mindful of context, positionality, relationship, and reciprocity across cultures.

23 June 2021 Journal Article Journal on Education in Emergencies (JEiE)

Book Review: Early Childhood Development in Humanitarian Crises: South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda by Sweta Shah

In this review of Early Childhood Development in Humanitarian Crises: South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda by Sweta Shah, Kate Schwartz highlights how Shah draws from a rich variety of disciplines, contexts, and frames to provide a comprehensive picture of ECD in humanitarian settings: its potential, its limitations, and its critical role for children living in crisis and conflict.