Global Children’s Initiative seeks to catalyze fresh thinking about how to achieve breakthrough outcomes for children around the globe. The following propositions guide GCI's work:

• To protect children from the biological consequences of significant adversity, in addition to providing them with enriched learning opportunities. Investments in the early childhood years are critical building blocks for lifelong health promotion and disease prevention, not just strategies to enhance school readiness.
• Coordinated strategies to reduce biological and environmental risk factors in the lives of women and their children can simultaneously reduce child mortality, improve developmental outcomes, build human capital, and reduce widespread poverty throughout the world. 

After exploring Harvard University’s Global Children’s Initiative website, I found there are three current activities they are involved in:

1. Applying the Science of Early Childhood in Brazil called Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância (NCPI)– They are  committed to:

·         Building a unified science of child development to explain the early roots of lifelong health, learning, and behavior in Brazil;

·         Translating and communicating science effectively to inform the public discourse around issues that affect children and families; and

·         Preparing leaders to leverage the science of healthy development in the design and implementation of innovative policies and programs that reduce preventable disparities and promote greater well-being for all Brazilian children.

NCPI represents a model of collaborative work at the nexus of practice, policy, and research. Core program activities include the following:

           ·    Building a Brazilian scientific community around early childhood development. NCPI is convening an interdisciplinary group of Brazilian scholars to guide the synthesis and application of scientific knowledge about child development to policymaking and practice in Brazil. It is also fostering collaboration among Harvard and Brazilian researchers.

            ·  Translating scientific knowledge for application to social policy. This includes working with the Center’s longtime partner organization, the Frameworks Institute, to communicate the science of child development within the Brazilian cultural context in the most effective ways.

• Strengthening leadership around early childhood development through an executive leadership course for policymakers. Drawing on the latest research, the program provides public leaders with the knowledge and tools to design and implement more effective, science-based public policies and programs.
• Translating and adapting the Center’s existing print and multimedia resources for a Brazilian audience. The translated science forms the basis of a wide range of publications and educational media that give Brazilian policymakers, practitioners, and the general public multiple ways to engage with and understand the science of early childhood development. 

2. Global Learning Community:  Saving Brains-Grand Challenges Canada

Saving Brains seeks to improve outcomes for children living in poverty through interventions that nurture and protect early brain development in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life by:

• Articulating a common theory for action based on scientific knowledge and practical experience;
• Developing shared metrics and evaluation frameworks for interventions;
• Fostering an ongoing learning community to accelerate innovation through sharing lessons and results; and
• Encouraging policy translation through cross-sectional leadership development.

Currently, projects are being implemented in low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

3. Support for Faculty: Seed-Funded Research- The GCI provides support to research activities led by affiliated faculty members of the Center who work closely with researchers and institutions in low- and middle-income countries around the world. Each project has fostered interdisciplinary collaboration to generate new evidence and insights about how child development unfolds in diverse cultural contexts.

Some examples of global projects conducted by Center-affiliated faculty that have received funding through GCI include:

• China: Assessing Child Mental Health Needs in Shanghai

            Myron Belfer, project co-leader
                This project aims to assess the mental health needs of children and             adolescents – a first for China. Blending qualitative and quantitative methods,       it seeks to provide a comprehensive picture of the current status of services,               information on barriers to care, an improved understanding of local                 epidemiology, and a roadmap for future services and research development. 

• Chile: Expanding effective interventions to improve preschool quality                                  Project collaborators: MaryCatherine Arbour, Catherine                                          Snow, Hirokazu Yoshikawa

                Un Buen Comienzo (UBC), "A Good Start," was a collaborative project in Santiago, Chile, that sought to improve early childhood education through                 teacher professional development. Its goal was to improve the quality of educational offerings for four-to-six-year-olds, particularly in the area of language development. The project also addressed critical health areas that can improve school attendance and socioemotional development, and worked to involve the children's families in their education.

 The project began in 2007 with four demonstration sites. Since 2011, the            UBC program has been implemented in 75 schools in two regions.

The GCI has recognized what scientists and educators have known for years and are taking the next steps drawing from the Frontiers of Innovation initiative started here in the US.  As educators, parents, community leaders, etc. we need to continue to advocate for all our children.

References:

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/activities/global_initiative/