Consortium on Nurturing Values and Spirituality in Early Childhood for the Prevention of Violence
A global movement to ensure that young children grow up in safe, healthy and nurturing environments
The Consortium, launched by Arigatou International and now with a membership of 18 organizations and five individual experts, is fostering collaboration and developing innovative, evidence-based approaches to integrate ethical values and strengthen the spiritual development of children in the early years to foster the prevention of violence and support children’s holistic development.
REPORT: Spirituality & Early Childhood: Resources for Prevention of Violence against Children—Selected Lessons from Practice.
In 2020, the Consortium commissioned a report from the Joint Learning Initiative for Faith and Local Communities, entitled Spirituality & Early Childhood: Resources for Prevention of Violence against Children—Selected Lessons from Practice.
The report draws on academic and grey literature to collect selected lessons emerging from five recent early childhood programs of faith-based organizations in Afghanistan, Brazil, East and Southern Africa, and Sri Lanka, which were focused on the spiritual well-being of children and use values-based approaches in their work on early childhood. It describes five common approaches used by these organizations with a focus on how they nurture spirituality around early childhood for the prevention of violence.
Based on the findings of the report as well as expertise from its member organizations, the Consortium worked together on a toolkit to help faith-based organizations and faith actors better support the spiritual development of children in the early years.
TOOLKIT: Strengthening faith-based organizations and faith communities to support the spiritual development of children in the early years.
The toolkit includes concrete approaches to integrate the spiritual development of children as part of their holistic development in the early years. It focuses on fostering their well-being and preventing violence by promoting positive, nurturing and safe environments, and supporting children to develop positive relations with others.
The purpose of the toolkit is to strengthen the capacities and capabilities of faith-based organizations and faith communities that work with parents, caregivers and teachers. It will also serve civil society organizations interested in working with faith communities.
The toolkit comprises diverse chapters including a conceptual framework on the spiritual development of children and prevention of violence, and has sections to guide implementation at different levels: organizations, trainers and facilitators. The organizations can equip trainers, who can later train facilitators from the community to work directly with parents and caregivers. The toolkit also provides flexibility to select the modules that are relevant to the local needs.
Annual Meeting
The third annual meeting of the Consortium was held in December 2020 to review the draft toolkit on “Spiritual Development of Children in the Early Years” and discuss the impact of COVID-19 on young children.
We welcome our newest Consortium members:
Africa Early Childhood Network
