The 4th International Developmental Pediatrics Association (IDPA) Congress was held on December 2-5, 2021. IDPA and the Arab Network for Early Childhood Development (ANECD) hosted the event, bringing together clinicians, researchers, and policymakers working for child development and disabilities from around the world. The theme for 2021 is ‘Nurturing Children in Crisis’.

This event offered health policymakers, programme managers, emergency officers, MNCH programme implementers, health professionals, researchers, development and funding partners an opportunity to interact with Ministries of Health and implementers from 19 countries and to discuss strategies to strengthen health systems and enable them to respond rapidly and build back better.

This conference provided an opportunity to discuss ECD programs in Kenya, innovations and challenges, creating resolutions to establish a holistic/multi-sectoral approach for implementing the Nurturing Care Framework.

ECD implementers and researchers were invited to join a discussion on translating knowledge to inform policy and practice. This webinar looked at what knowledge translation means, barriers, facilitators, and opportunities for translating knowledge to practice, and what is currently being done to address existing gaps

Following the release of a thematic brief “Nurturing care for children living in humanitarian settings”, the Arab Network for Early Childhood (ANECD), International Rescue Committee (IRC), Save the Children, UNICEF and the World Health Organization came together to disseminate the brief and foster country-level action.

This webinar probed further into the Thematic Brief ‘Tobacco control for children’s health and development’ and provided examples of​ how comprehensive smoke-free policies positively impact child health and development.

This meeting launched the thematic brief “Nurturing care for every newborn”, which summarizes why nurturing care is essential for every newborn to survive and thrive. It outlined the five components of nurturing care and contained examples of practical actions to create and strengthen nurturing environments for newborns, including those who are born too soon, small or sick.

The U.S. Government Global Nutrition Coordination Plan and the COVID-19 Infant Feeding Research Interest Group (CIF-RIG) invited interested parties to attend a webinar on infant feeding during HIV, Ebola, and COVID-19. The hosts reviewed recent experiences in reaction to global infectious disease impact on infant feeding practices and began a discussion on how lessons learned might be leveraged to improve future readiness and impact.

The Nutrition subgroup of the Child Health Task Force hosted this panel discussion on lessons learnt integrating additional components of nurturing care with nutrition interventions in development and humanitarian contexts. Panelists shared experiences from multiple countries including Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Sudan.