In order to advance the notion that young children and their families have a role to play in conflict prevention and peacebuilding, the Early Childhood Peace Consortium (ECPC) is pleased to introduce its first publication “Contributions of Early Childhood Development Programming to Promoting Peace and Sustainable Development”. This concept paper summarizes and combines evidence from developmental psychology, health and nutrition, with lessons learned from the peacebuilding and social services administration sectors. The paper will help practitioners appreciate how ECD services can prevent and mitigate conflict between individuals and among groups.

This background paper thereby follows in the footsteps of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which acknowledges that “there can be no sustainable development without peace, and no peace without sustainable development.” It exemplifies the role of ECD in supporting the achievement of the SDGs, and in particular Goal 16. The concepts described in the paper align with recent directions in peacebuilding that aim to operationalize socio-economic development interventions so that they simultaneously transform relationships and build social support networks capable of mitigating violent conflict risks.