Welcome to the World Forum HIV/Aids and Young Children Project

HIV/AIDS and Young Children Action Tank
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
May 14-15, 2007

Attention to the needs of children whose lives have been directly affected by HIV/AIDS has been part of the World Forum Foundation agenda since the first World Forum on Early Care and Education in 1999.   

Mounting evidence from neuroscience and developmental psychology indicates that a child’s early experiences have an enormous and lasting impact on how the brain develops, bearing on the lives of individuals and communities. Yet it is often t he developmental needs of the youngest children that are most neglected in the initiatives to ameliorate the consequences of the AIDS pandemic. Recognizing this, some communities have organized themselves around supporting young children and their caregivers, whether they are sick parents, relatives or others who are caring for orphaned children. They have identified practices and employed strategies to support more broadly children’s healthy development cognitively, socially, emotionally and physically.

Bringing together representatives from 17 of these remarkable communities to highlight and examine promising practices, the Action Tank in Kuala Lumpur takes the next important step in its effort to promote recognition, respect and resources for grassroots practices that integrate attention to the youngest children in their response to the epidemic. The actionable items and leadership messages produced by the Action Tank participants will be the drivers of the next steps of the World Forum’s early care and education community of practice. We hope to help funders, policy makers, technical assistance providers, and researchers gain further insight from the grassroots and from each other so that we can further all efforts on behalf of young children.

Wherever your concern for the young children whose lives are shattered by HIV/AIDS may originate, and whatever role in addressing this issue you play, we invite you to join us in learning from the experiences that will be shared and exchanged by the World Forum AIDS and Young Children Project. We believe that by having creative, entrepreneurial community efforts that support children’s early development as valued, visible participants in local, regional and global networks, we are beginning to create the opportunity to address the current barriers to rebuilding communities devastated by HIV/AIDS.

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