The Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC) is a professional network established to build strong partnerships in early childhood across sectors and different disciplines, organizations, agencies and institutions in the Asia-Pacific region.

Our experiences this month at ARNEC were marked by a sense of joy and fulfillment, yet mixed with tears of sorrows. Today, we have tragic news to share. Persy So, a UNICEF colleague and ARNEC member, was killed in the bombing of the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan on June 9, 2009. In dealing with this grief, we remain further strengthened in our commitments to ECD and education, in which Persy cared and advocated for adamantly. From within the silver lining of the cloudy sky this month, the ARNEC Steering Committee and Secretariat celebrated the decision to move the ARNEC Secretariat to the Regional Training and Resource Centre – Asia in Singapore by the end of 2009. We also drafted a strong Call for Action on our commitments to end Child Labour on the occasion of World Day Against Child Labour 2009. Do read on for some articles on ECD shared by ARNEC members as well.

IN MEMORY OF PERSEVERANDA (PERSY) SO

This month, we were all deeply saddened and shocked by the death of Perseveranda So, or “Persy” to us, in the most recent stream of suicide attacks in Northwest Pakistan.

On the late evening of June 9, a vehicle forced its way in, passed security and detonated in the compounds of the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar. Persy was the UNICEF’s Chief of Education in Pakistan’s office and a national of the Philippines, who at that time was there to ensure that girls, displaced by the nearby conflict would be able to start and continue education in school. She was killed in the line of duty.

ARNEC strongly condemns atrocious act of terrorism like this. [read more]

ARNEC'S CALL TO END CHILD LABOUR: WDACL 2009

June 12, 2009 was the World Day Against Child Labour. On this occasion, ARNEC and its members renew their commitments to end child labour and call on all member countries to pledge resources and renewed efforts to end Child Labour. UNICEF estimates indicate that more than 245 million children worldwide are engaged in child labour, and 73% of these children are in the age range of 5-17 and are engaged in the worst forms of child labour. Besides being engaged in hazardous occupations such as mining and heavy machinery, many of these children are also victims of physical, emotional and psychological maltreatments, and are also denied fundamental rights such as the right to education and a stimulating childhood. [read more]

We are very pleased to announce that the Regional Training and Research Centre in ECCE – Asia (RTRC – Asia) in Singapore will be hosting the new ARNEC Secretariat base. Plans for relocation to Singapore are expected to complete by the end of 2009! [read more]

ECD IN EMERGENCIES WORKSHOP

The Asia-Pacific ECD in Emergencies workshop was organized in Phuket, Thailand from May 26-29, 2009 by UNICEF (APSSC, EAPRO, ROSA) and Save the Children Alliance, with the support of INEE (Inter-Agency Network for Emergency Education in Emergencies) and Consultative Group’s Early Childhood Care and Development in Emergencies Working Group (CGEEWG). The workshop brought together 60 participants from 13 countries - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vanuatu and Vietnam. [read more]

PARENT EDUCATION IN KAILALI, NEPAL
By Jacqui Purnell, World Vision

My name is Jacqui Purnell and I am based in Bangkok. I am currently working as an Early Childhood Care and Development long term consultant for World Vision. One of my projects is in Kailali, which is a very poor district in the Far Western terai (plains) area of Nepal. Young children under 5 years old in Nepal experience high rates of malnutrition (nationally around 50%), chronic health issues, injury and disability due to accidents and have little access to care providers that can develop their psychosocial capacity. As a consequence, by the time many young children reach school age, their physical, emotional and social developments are stunted and they have limited brain capacity to reach their potential. The problem is worse for young children coming from the poorest regions and ethnic groups in Nepal. [read more]

PRESCHOOL LANGUAGE LEARNING RESOURCE
By Maysoun Chehab, Arab Resource Collective Network

An interesting study published in the May/June issue of "Child Development" by researchers at the University of Virginia and Ohio State University, on Preschool Language Learning: "Peer Effects on Children's Language Achievement during Pre-kindergarten. [read more]

ECD SHORT COURSES AND WORKSHOPS AT BRAC UNIVERSITY
By Md. Jaman Uddin Khan Raj, Brac University

Accredited Short Course on Child Development, Play & Creativity and School Readiness. ECD Resource Centre, Institute of Educational Development, BRAC University (IED, BRACU) offers accredited short course in Early Childhood Development, which is the first of its kind in Bangladesh. The course is offered both in Bengali and English. [read more]