10 April 2025

The Palestinian Child Institute at An- Najah National University, the Arab Network for Early Childhood Development (ANECD), the Palestinian Network for Early Childhood Development, and the International Network on Peacebuilding for Young Children (INPB), Early Childhood Peace Consortium, cordially invite you to attend and participate in the international conference on “Children’s rights in Wars and Crises: Realities and Challenges”.

Time: Tuesday and Wednesday, April 29 and 30, (9:00 AM, Jerusalem time, 6:00 AM: GMT).

Venue: Prince Turki Bin Abdul Aziz Theater, New Campus, An-Najah National University, Nablus.

Conference Background

The conference stems from the increasing magnitude of poly-crises affecting children worldwide and Palestine in particular. These crises underscore the urgent need to address violations of child rights during wars and crisis to revive and strengthen existing treaties and conventions and equip them with new global tools for their implementation.

While the safeguarding of children’s rights amidst war and crisis is a cornerstone of international law, this conference seeks to unite global voices in advocating for children’s rights and justice, creating actionable frameworks and tools for ECD amid the ravages of war, crisis, occupation, and systemic, long-lasting oppression- while holding perpetrators of violations accountable.

The proposed 2025 conference builds upon the chain of programs, initiatives and conferences, addressing the escalating global crisis. It also addresses several core themes: safeguarding children in crisis and wars, advocacy and accountability, and bridging gaps through partnerships.

Moreover, the overarching goal of the conference is to translate commitments into tangible outcomes, paving the way for a brighter, more equitable future for children worldwide.

Other key objectives of the conference include:

• Analyze the multidimensional impacts of war and crises on early childhood development.
• Address violations of child rights.
• Showcase child-centered peacebuilding and reconciliation approaches.
• Formulate a roadmap for enhanced advocacy and partnerships between Palestinian and international institutions, fostering support from global donors.
• Amplify the urgency of protecting children’s rights in war and crises zones, emphasizing the need for actionable intervention.
• Revising the current mechanizes of implementation and monitoring for respecting and protecting child rights by state parties of international instruments.
• Construct and suggest a Roadmap for Global Advocacy towards UN and international agencies, and develop programmatic partnerships between Palestinian institutions and international and regional ECD organizations.

Concept note.

For registration and participation.

To participate via zoom.