The overarching goal of the Conference is to build national consensus that investing in Early Childhood Development is central to Pakistan’s human capital strategy. It seeks to mobilize sustainable and innovative financing while strengthening integrated systems across health, nutrition, education, and social protection.

Specific objectives:

• Position Early Childhood Development as a national and regional human capital investment by reflecting on Pakistan’s journey in ECD, looking at policy and systems thinking, and advancing integrated approaches to nurturing care, early learning, health, nutrition, and child protection.
• Advance sustainable and innovative financing for ECD systems by demonstrating public financing pathways, blended finance, CSR, venture philanthropy, and climate-linked instruments that support nutrition-sensitive, health-integrated, and inclusive ECD outcomes.
• Strengthen nurturing care and caregiver well-being across cultures by prioritizing parenting, maternal mental health, MHPSS, responsive caregiving, nutrition in the first 1,000 days, community- and faith-based and technology models that are culturally grounded and scalable. (Case-studies)
• Build a future-ready ECD workforce and service delivery ecosystem through academic pathways and Centers of Excellence, credentialing and digital upskilling, and the responsible use of AI and technology for early detection, developmental screening, digital parenting, and improved service quality.
• Advance research, measurement, technology, and cross-sector integration of ECD by strengthening data systems, global measurement frameworks, AI-enabled monitoring, and embedding ECD within health, education, nutrition, climate resilience, and social protection programmes at national and provincial levels.

Target Audiences

• Relevant government ministries & departments
• ECD practitioners, caregivers, parents
• NGOs, INGOs
• Development partners
• Academia & students
• Private sector organizations
• Parliamentarians
• Diplomatic missions
• Media
• Religious/community leaders