Our Mission:
- To advocate for specific improvement in the proportion of children under-5 years with disabilities receiving organised family-centred early intervention services for the beneficiaries of the targeted reduction in under-5 mortality with disabilities.
- To develop an accountability mechanism [tagged “U5Disabilites2030”] for global initiatives for early childhood development for children under-5 years with disabilities within the framework of SDG 4.2.1 and relevant United Nation’s conventions and resolutions.
- To facilitate priority consideration for children under-5 years with disabilities based on the best available scientific evidence on early detection and intervention.
- To identify and support initiatives aimed at reducing the incidence of avoidable developmental disabilities among children under-5 years.
- To disseminate research findings that will advance improved community-oriented policies and services for children under-5 years with disabilities and their families.
- To facilitate an inclusive and embracing societal attitude for children with disabilities.
- To serve as a reliable resource-hub for supporting families and carers of children under-5 years with disabilities and foster partnership with other organisations with shared vision for childhood disabilities.
We are a diversified, cross-cultural, and inclusive consortium of professionals, carers, and parents with and without lived experience of lifelong disability dedicated to advancing optimal early childhood development for children with disabilities from birth to age 5 years.
Children under 5 years with and without disabilities constitute a very important population group in global health. The first five years of life is critical to a child’s growth, development, health and well-being over the life course. Political support to address the needs of children under 5 years with disabilities in particular is enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the subsisting Resolution of the World Health Assembly on Disability (WHA66.9), and more notably the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2015-2030.
The population of children under 5 years at risk of poor development was first reported as 200 million in low and middle-income countries when the Lancet series on ECD was launched in London, UK in 2007. This estimate was based solely on two proxy measures of child development: stunting and extreme poverty. Children with disabilities were excluded because of the lack of population-based data at the time. The estimate was revised to 250 million in 2017.