3rd International Conference on Early Human Development

Deadline: 21 June 2019

Submit proposals for the 3rd International Conference on Early Human Development under the theme of  Nurturing Care: From Global “Pact” to National Action; From Thriving Childhoods to Sustainable Livelihoods.

The attention that the global community is paying to the significance of the earliest years of children’s development is very assuring in a world characterized by profound adversity and vulnerability. Nations are slowly but surely beginning to realize that to secure the promise and potential inherent in each child is to safeguard the prosperity of society itself.

It is imperative that the momentum to capitalize on this increased global advocacy, and the emerging science that informs it, is sustained to cultivate greater commitment and action at all levels: government, civil society, the donor community, multilateral organizations, and the human services professions.

Sub-Themes

• Early Maternal/Child Nutrition & Human Capital Development
• The Nurturing Care Framework
• Early Child Development & the Sustainable Development Goals
• Global Health
• Work Force Development
• Linking Science, Policy & Practice​

Presentation C​ategories

1. Invited plenary addresses, symposia, and roundtable conversation sessions
2. Peer-reviewed symposia and single-paper sessions
3. Peer-reviewed poster and media pr​esentation sessions

Presentation Topics​

• Adolescent parenting/caregiving
• Baby/child care
• Child protection
• Disability, health, family support and child development
• ECD in crisis, conflict, and other humanitarian intervention settings
• Health systems strengthening
• Innovations/advances in early learning: policy,; practice, and research
• Inter-agency collaboration
• MNCH
• Maternal and early child malnutrition
• Media and child development
• Mental health
• Models of collaboration with communities and local governments
• Parenting, parent-child relationships
• Play and early development
• Professional development
• Psychosocial development
• Scaling promising interventions
• Socio-cultural factors in nutrition and development: family/community nutrition practices, experiences
• School readiness
• Stunting
• Systems approaches to service design and delivery
• Urbanization, marginalization, public policy, and child development
• The workforce development continuum: pre- and in-service preparation, mentorship, and communities of practice

The conference will provide an interdisciplinary forum for engagement around issues on which bold and urgent actions are needed to make a positive difference in the lives of children. In addition to a broad, general programme on early child/human development, the conference is being designed to feature a special thematic focus on early maternal and child nutrition.

The complete programme will continue the Institute for Human Development’s tradition of presenting to stakeholders opportunities to reflect together on what they have been able to accompish together as a field and where they need to direct their creative energies in their ongoing efforts to build better and stronger futures for children, families, and communities around the world.

Proposal Preparation Guidelines

Proposals are invited for the following categories: symposia, single papers, and poster presentations/media displays.

• Symposia​: Each symposium session will consist of no more than 3 thematically related papers with a chair/co-chairs and a discussant. Those submitting symposium proposals should avoid selecting contributions based on work related to a single research group or project. The purpose of a symposium is to have perspectives or data sets from different lines of research addressing a common theme/topic. The goal is to have the papers tell a coherent story on a set of related questions being addressed by different investigators.
  • Each proposal should have:
    • A proposal title page with the symposium’s title, the name(s), institutional affiliation(s) and contact information for the chair/co-chairs, the discussant, and the authors of each of the three papers.
    • An integrative introduction (with no author identification) of no more than 750 words. It should provide the rationale/objectives for the symposium, show how the different papers are related to one another, and indicate what new insights would be shed by the papers collectively.
    • A 400-word description of each paper, also with no presenter identification. For presentations of original data or systanatic review of existing research, the description should specify the questions addressed, the methods used, and the main findings and their interpretation. Descriptions of papers not presenting original data should include clear statements on the conceptual or practical logic behind the work, the evidence base informing the work, the nature of the main issues to be presented, and how they advance knowledge, policy, or practice.
    • An abstract of no more than 200 words to be included in a conference booklet of abstracts that will be accessible from the Conference Page of IHD’s website. Only abstracts from accepted papers will be published in the booklet. Please note that everything else requested up to this point is required for review of applicants submission. None of that will be printed anywhere. Only this 200-word abstract will appear in the conference booklet if applicants paper is accepted so please be sure it adequately describes the entire symposium.
    • Those submitting symposium proposals are responsible for ensuring that panellists for each paper attend the conference to present their own papers.
• Stand-Alone/Single Papers: These are individual papers (with one or more authors) that are not connected to other papers. Once accepted, however, papers will be clustered into sessions with 2 to 3 presentations. Single-paper proposals should have:
  • • A separate page with the paper’s title, the name(s), institutional affiliation(s), presentation category or categories (if presentation addresses more than one category), and contact information (e-mail address and phone number) for each author.
    • A 400-word description with no author identification. For presentations of original data or systematic reviews of existing research, the proposal should specify the questions addressed, the methods used, and the main findings and their interpretation. Proposals for non-data-based presentations—such as those focusing on practice, programme development/ implementation, or policy issues—should include clear statements on the conceptual and/or practical logic and evidence informing the work, the nature of the main issues to be presented, and how those issues advance knowledge, practice, and/or policy.
    • An abstract of no more than 200 words to be included in a conference booklet of abstracts that will be accessible from the Conference Page of IHD’s website. Only abstracts from accepted papers will be published in the booklet.
  • **Special note on stand-alone paper submissions:
    • As is often the case in conferences with multiple categories, it might become necessary, depending on the volume of submissions, to accept some paper presentation proposals in the poster category. When this happens, submitters will be given the opportunity to agree to present the paper as a poster or withdraw the proposal.
• Poster Presentations and Media Displays
  • They expect poster presentations and media displays to constitute the largest category of accepted proposals. Poster and media displays will last for a period of 90 minutes in a dedicated space. Priority will be given to papers reporting data. However, programme/project descriptions and policy initiatives are welcome as well.
  • For posters reporting data, the 400-word description should specify the questions addressed, the methods used, and the main findings and their interpretation.
  • For papers not designed primarily to present data the 400-word description should include clear statements on the conceptual and practical logic and objectives informing the work, the nature of the main issues to be presented, and how those issues advance knowledge, practice, and/or policy.
  • Each poster presentation proposal must be accompanied by an abstract of no more than 200 words to be included in a conference booklet of abstracts that will be accessible from the Conference Page of IHD’s website. Only abstracts from accepted papers will be published in the booklet.
  • Please know that they will NOT have room to print applicants entire 400-word proposal. If applicants proposal is accepted and applicant do not have the required 200-word abstract for the conference programme, they will reserve the right to exclude their presentation from the programme altogether.
  • For media presentation, the 400-word proposal must clearly describe the nature of the “product”, the technology involved, whether such technology will be brought in by the presenter, the nature of demonstrations anticipated, if any, and the maximum number of people who can be at a the display for demonstrations at any given time. Space for media presentations will be allotted on the basis of the nature of the technology and need for demonstration. Each media presentation proposal must be accompanied by an abstract of no more than 200 words to be included in a conference booklet of abstracts that will be accessible from the Conference Page of IHD’s website. Only abstracts from accepted papers will be published in the booklet.

Submission Instructions

All information identifying submitters and their institutional affiliation should be restricted to the cover/title page of the submission. The cover page applicants prepare must include the following elements:

• Title of the proposed presentation
• Name of submitter(s), institutional affiliation(s), and e-mail and telephone contact information
• Category of presentation (select one for the following):
  • Symposium (the cover page for a symposium should include the overall title of the symposium and the titles of each of the three papers to be presented in the session)
  • Single paper
  • Poster
  • Media display

For those submitting paper presentation proposals, indicate whether applicant would agree to present applicants paper as a poster if it is accepted in that category. Indicate one of the responses below on the title page:

• Will present paper as poster, if so determined through the review process (be assured that selecting this option will in no way affect the review decision)
• Will rather withdraw the proposal than present it as a poster (be assured that such a decision will not prejudice any other submissions applicant make now or to future IHD conferences).

Follow the descriptions and guidelines provided for each of the presentation categories and prepare their content pages accordingly. It is important that applicant follow the guidelines closely, including the limits on word count, or their proposal might not be reviewed.

Submitters are responsible for editing the content material to ensure that there are no grammatical, structural or typographic errors. Proposals which do not meet this requirement might not be reviewed.​

Submission Limits

There is a limit of two proposals for each person/team making a submission, and each must be submitted separately. Once applicants submit their first proposal, applicant will receive a system notification by e-mail with a link to a page where applicant can upload a second proposal if applicant wish to do so.

How to Apply

Interested applicants can apply via given website.

For more information, please visit https://www.aku.edu/events/icehd/Pages/home.aspx