YouSaid · the spoken record

Rollins Westin

lines on the record

7

first

2022-06-06

most recent

2022-06-06

sittings or episodes

1

sources

un-security-council

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1. “Such early childhood interventions bolster children, communities and societies at large. Yet less than 3 per cent of humanitarian assistance funding is allocated to that critical need — a number that simply must rise to meet the challenge of Ukraine and the crises yet to come. If we do not focus on the impact of the issues discussed here today on children, prioritizing their needs and giving them the chance to thrive, how can they possibly be expected to have the skills they need to rebuild their society? Our hopes for a prosperous and peaceful future depend on the action we take now to support young children, because our future depends on them. I urge the Council to prioritize children and their caregivers in responding to this crisis.”

   2022-06-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9056 (2022) · source

2. “We have seen it in Jordan, where we partner with the International Rescue Committee and the Ministry of Health to integrate early childhood support directly into visits with health-care providers. In Ukraine, we align our work with national education objectives, following the lead of the Ministry of Education and Science, which, despite extraordinary challenges, continues to reach Ukrainian children with invaluable education. Finally, we must not forget the caregivers. We know that the most important intervention for young children experiencing trauma is more engagement with a caring adult. We must therefore structure support to meet the unique challenges of parenting in crises and help caregivers provide the nurturing care that children so desperately need.”

   2022-06-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9056 (2022) · source

3. “First, we must directly provide mental health and psychosocial support for the immediate needs of children, as nothing less than a first-line and life-saving intervention. Advocates for mental health in crisis contexts have begun to have some success in building support into the Ukraine response, which must be continued and expanded. Secondly, we must invest in early childhood development, from nurturing care to playful learning, and fold it into humanitarian and national response plans. Quality early childhood development has been proven to help mitigate the effects of the trauma that children experience in crisis situations. Those interventions do not necessarily add significant cost. In fact, building early childhood support directly into existing interventions can be an effective use of limited resources.”

   2022-06-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9056 (2022) · source

4. “Their caregivers are still tasked each and every day with providing for their children, while they themselves have been traumatized by violence. All of those effects are compounded in Ukraine in particular, because so many women and children have had to leave behind their fathers, brothers, uncles and male family members. Right now, children are experiencing the kind of exposure to violence and stress that has the potential to derail their future if they do not receive the right support. The urgency simply cannot be overstated. However, the truth is that the international community has viable solutions to support children and their caregivers, many of which can be integrated into the existing humanitarian response. I would like to leave the Council today with three ideas for supporting young children and caregivers during crises.”

   2022-06-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9056 (2022) · source

5. “There is no time in a child’s life that is more fragile and more important than the first five years, when the brain is developing faster than at any other time in life. That is also the period when the brain is most sensitive to a child’s environment. Repeated exposure to traumatic events can inhibit brain development in children, with long- term repercussions for their cognitive abilities, health and productivity that extend long after they survive the immediate danger. I ask the Council to look at this conflict through the lens of children growing up in the throes of war, shaken by bombs, forced to leave their homes and all they have ever known, without the stability that children so desperately need.”

   2022-06-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9056 (2022) · source

6. “The gender dynamics of the crisis in Ukraine are particularly pronounced, with women and children accounting for 90 per cent of all those who have fled the country, while for those who remain the situation is equally dire. Today I want to draw the Council’s attention to the impact this war has on children, many of whom bear witness and have been subjected to atrocities, and all of whom are deeply affected. I am here to urge the international community to prioritize young children and caregivers in its response to the conflict in order to help mitigate a crisis of generational proportions. Young children are not only incredibly vulnerable to the immediate physical impacts of war but also have the most to lose because the early years are such a critical time in their development.”

   2022-06-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9056 (2022) · source

7. “Ms. Rollins Westin: I thank the Government of Albania for inviting me to address the Security Council on behalf of Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organization behind Sesame Street, which has been reaching children with early learning for 50 years in more than 150 countries. In the past decade we have been working with humanitarian organizations, Governments and United Nations agencies to support children and caregivers who face the trauma of conflict and displacement. To date, we have reached millions of young children affected by crises in the Middle East, Bangladesh, East Africa, Latin America and Afghanistan — and now Ukraine. Today the Council has heard about some of the most devastating impacts of war and conflict, including increased gender-based and sexual violence.”

   2022-06-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9056 (2022) · source