Between 24 and 27 May, almost 300 delegates from around the world attended the LINKS international online conference: 'Early Childhood Developments and Peacebuilding - Making the Links'.

LINKS is a global network of researchers and practitioners that share a commitment to contributing to sustainable development and peacebuilding through investment in high quality ECD programmes.

The network comprises researchers from 7 low and middle income countries (Viet Nam, Timor Leste, Mali, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Colombia and Palestine); academic specialists from Yale, Harvard, New York University, University College Dublin and Queen’s; along with in-country UNICEF officers and representatives from Early Years.  The Core Delivery Team is based at Queen’s and consists of CESI members Professor Sarah Miller, Dr Laura Dunne, Dr Nicole Craig and Dr Aoibheann Brennan-Wilson, under the directorship of Professor Paul Connolly, Dean of Research at Lancaster University.

The LINKS network has met biannually since May 2017 and this international conference was the culmination of this first phase of the project, as researchers and specialists exchanged findings and reflections from the specific interventions undertaken in each participating country, all of which are underpinned by the tenets of Early Childhood Development for Peace Building and Social Cohesion.

Additionally, keynote presentations were given by Dr Rima Salah (Chair of Early Childhood Peace Consortium), Dr Siobhan Fitzpatrick (former Chief Executive, Early Years), Nada Elattar (UNICEF HQ), Anya Azaryeva Valente (UNICEF HQ), Dr Patrick Vinck (Harvard Humanitarian Institute) and Professor Hiro Yoshikawa (New York University).

The presentations and discussion sessions from this conference are available online, and interested parties may still register post-event in order to view the proceedings, via this link.

Further details about LINKS may be viewed via the Lancaster University site here.