Glossary

Glossary

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Early childhood

Children from 0-8 years. This can be further specified as:

  • Infants: 0 - 2 years
  • Pre-school age: 3-5 years
  • Early school age: 6-8 years.

Early childhood is a critical period when the brain develops most rapidly and has a high capacity for change, and the foundation is laid for health and well-being throughout life.

Early childhood development (ECD)

A comprehensive approach to policies and programs for children from the prenatal period to eight years of age as well as for their parents, their caregivers and their communities. Its purpose is to uphold children’s right to develop their full cognitive, emotional, social and physical potential.

Early recovery

A multi-faceted process of recovery guided by development principles that builds on humanitarian programmes and encourages sustainable development opportunities. It aims to generate self- sustaining, nationally owned, resilient processes for post-crisis recovery. It encompasses the restoration of basic services, livelihoods, shelter, governance, security and rule of law, environment and social dimensions, including the reintegration of displaced populations.

Economic recovery

The process of stimulating the growth of an area’s local economy through developing markets, strengthening new and existing enterprises, and creating jobs in the private sector and public institutions, including reconstructing needed infrastructure that will allow for trade and commerce to take place in local, national, regional, and international markets. Economic recovery following conflict or disaster should be a transformative process of building back both better and differently.

Emotional maltreatment

Maltreatment that causes harm to the psychological or emotional well-being of the child. This could include restricting a child’s movements, denigration, ridicule, threats and intimidation, discrimination, rejection, caregivers being emotionally unavailable or chronically inattentive to a child and other nonphysical forms of hostile treatment that deny the child an appropriate and supportive environment. Also called psychological maltreatment.

Epidemic

Occurs when an infectious disease spreads rapidly to many people. See Infectious Disease Outbreak.

Evaluation

An assessment of performance, focused on results (outcomes and impacts) that can be internal or external. Evaluations can provide assessments of what works and why, and highlight intended and unintended results for accountability and learning purposes.

Evidence

Information on which a judgment or conclusion can be based. In humanitarian work, many different sorts of evidence are used, including subjective and qualitative information. Qualitative information is not necessarily information of a lower quality than quantitative information. ALNAP uses six criteria to judge the quality of evidence used in humanitarian action: “accuracy; representativeness; relevance; generalisability; attribution; and clarity around context and methods”.

Exploitation

When an individual in a position of power and/or trust takes or attempts to take advantage of a child for their own personal benefit, advantage, gratification, or profit. This personal benefit may take different forms: physical, sexual, financial, material, social, military, or political. Exploitation may involve remuneration in cash or in kind (such as social status, political power, documentation, freedom of movement, or access to opportunities, goods or services) to the child or to a third person/s.

Explosive ordnance (EO)

Items which are defined under the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC); Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (APII CCW); Protocol V to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (Protocol V CCW); and the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM). This includes for example landmines, unexploded and abandoned explosive ordnance including from cluster munitions, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), mortars, shells, grenades, cartridges, ammunition, etc. See also unexploded ordnance and abandoned explosive ordnance.