ABSTRACT
Early Childhood Development (ECD) services are critical and may help children survive and become productive adults and leaders that contribute to peace and prosperity of societies. While international attention is growing for ECD with its integration into the Sustainable Development Goals, increase in donor interest, increase in ECD national policies, establishment of the ECD Nurturing Care Framework and more research, myriad challenges remain, especially in humanitarian contexts. The research of South Sudanese refugees in northern Uganda brought forward a new theoretical lens for understanding ECD in emergencies by overlaying Vygotsky’s Socio-cultural theory with Sen’s Capability Approach. The potential for ECD to shape a child’s identity and promote gender equality and peace is another area of potential future research. Research investigating ECD and peace is already conducted, but many of these studies have not yet looked at conflict countries in Africa.
