Global team of peacebuilding experts champion the transformative power of children and families, reveal proven theory of change and sound global call to action in new Yale-led video series
Twenty-five experts from evidence-based science and practice, early childhood education, human migration, media, and web technology are calling for pathways to peace in a new video series. Filmed at a recent Yale University-led conference, they demonstrate how using evidence-informed, early childhood development (ECD) strategies can globally advance peace, security, and sustainable development. They underscore, “We must address the root causes of violence and conflict and empower children and families to be agents of change to advance social cohesion and peace.”
The 14-part video series is hosted by James Leckman, MD, PhD, Neison Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry, Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology in the Yale Child Study Center, and researcher of global peacebuilding through ECD. The series is a collection of work by presenters from across Yale University, the NIHR Global Health Research Group LINKS program at Queen’s University Belfast, the United Nations, The Global Movement for The Culture of Peace, UNICEF, Sesame Workshop, AÇEV-Mother Child Education Foundation, IRIS-Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, and the U.N. NGO Committee on Migration.
Video appearances from the Yale Child Study Center include
- Linda Mayes, MD: Helping children flourish, from generation to generation
- Carla Horwitz, EdD: Some thoughts from the front lines of early childhood
- Angelica Ponguta, PhD, MPH: Knowledge brokering: Translating research into policy and practice
- Rima Salah, PhD: Building a world of peace: The promise of the Early Childhood Peace Consortium (ECPC)
- Catherine Panter-Brick, PhD, professor of Anthropology and head of Morse College: Biosocial research on stress and resilience
- Franz Joseph Hartl, JD, university webmaster for Yale: Leveraging the web to harness the energies of love
Additional video appearances from Yale University include
- Catherine Panter-Brick, PhD, professor of Anthropology and head of Morse College: Biosocial research on stress and resilience
- Franz Joseph Hartl, JD, university webmaster for Yale: Leveraging the web to harness the energies of love
This is a movement that requires all of us ... because you believe, you have the ability to make change.
Pia R. Britto, PhD, UNICEF
The series also includes a special appearance by 11-year-old Miss Lames Abdelrahman, IRIS refugee ambassador from Sudan in ECPC Pledge to Action for Peace.
Organized by Queens University Belfast-LINKS, ECPC (a global network co-founded by Yale faculty), UNICEF, and Yale, the video series also highlights the work of
- Sherrie R. Westin, president of global impact and philanthropy for Sesame Workshop: Sesame Street in Refugee and Host Communities
- Pia R. Britto, PhD, chief and senior advisor of Early Childhood Development, UNICEF: Building Brains, Building Futures
- H.E. Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, founder of the global ‘Culture of Peace’ movement, former under-secretary-general and permanent representative to the United Nations: Building ‘The Culture of Peace’: The call for global transformative action
“This transformation is contingent upon each one of us…in everything we do, in everything we say, and in every thought we have,” said Chowdhury. “Let us endeavor to build an inclusive world that respects and cherishes individuals and group differences. And, let us commit our efforts and resources to raise our children to be the agents of ‘The Culture of Peace.’”
“This is a movement that requires all of us, because you are science, you are practitioners, you are parents, you have the skill set, you represent the geographies of the world, you have the networks," said Britto. "And, because you believe, you have the ability to make change.”
The free video series can be viewed on the ECPC website, ECPC YouTube, and ECPC Facebook.