Watch: responsive caregiving in transit centres
60-minute recorded session with field practitioners from three regions.
Pillar 01 — Advocate
Put the first years on every agenda.
We track every major humanitarian appeal and donor strategy for how it treats children under five — then we show up with evidence, costed asks, and the combined weight of the alliance.
Pillar 02 — Connect
Move knowledge faster than crises move.
Working groups pair local organizations with international agencies and researchers so a model that works in one setting can be adapted in eleven others within months.
Pillar 03 — Equip
Open tools for every responder.
Everything the alliance produces is openly licensed: play kits, caregiver session plans, measurement guides, and training curricula in nine languages.
How change happens
From field evidence to funded policy.
01
Listen
Members surface what young children and caregivers need — directly from affected communities.
02
Prove
The research consortium tests what works and publishes results openly.
03
Push
We turn evidence into costed asks and campaign until they appear in budgets.
04
Scale
Funded models spread through the network, far beyond the first pilot.
Go deeper
Resources behind this approach.
Measuring what matters: child development in crisis data
Why standard humanitarian indicators miss the under-fives — and the three metrics to add.
Starting a caregiver learning circle: facilitator guide
Step-by-step guide in French, English, and Wolof for launching mother-led groups.
The First Years First pledge
Put the youngest first in every response.
Join the organizations committing to prioritize children under five in humanitarian planning, funding, and delivery.