Investing in Young Children for Peaceful Societies

With the worst human refugee crisis since World War II as the backdrop, from March 16 through March 18, 2016, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, in partnership with UNICEF and the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Center for Inter-religious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), held a workshop in Amman, Jordan, to explore topics related to investing in young children for peaceful societies. Over the course of the workshop, researchers, policy makers, program practitioners, funders, youth, and other experts came together to understand the effects of conflict and violence on children, women, and youth across areas of health, education, nutrition, social protection, and other domains. The goal of the workshop was to continue to fill in gaps in knowledge and explore opportunities for discourse through a process of highlighting the science and practice. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop. Table of Contents Front Matter 1 Introduction 2 Early Childhood Development During Times of Conflict and Violence 3 Linking the Science of Early Childhood with Conflict and Peace 4 Examples of Policy and Program Strategies for Reducing Violence and Promoting Citizenship Engagement and Peace 5 Examples of Tools for Reducing Violence and Promoting Citizenship Engagement and Peace 6 Messages of Hope from #TheNextGeneration References Appendix A: Abbreviations and Acronyms Appendix B: Workshop Agenda Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Workshop Speakers