The Consortium on Nurturing Values and Spirituality in Early Childhood for the Prevention of Violence

The Consortium, convened by Arigatou International, brings together civil society and faith-based organizations, religious communities, multilateral organizations, academia, and individual experts to foster collaboration, share good practices, and develop evidence-based and innovative approaches to integrate values-based education and spirituality in early childhood for the protection of children from violence and the promotion of their holistic well-being. 

How we work

The Consortium is a platform where organizations and individual experts working in the field of early childhood, for prevention of violence against children, education and peacebuilding, come together to share ideas and expertise, and build on each other’s experiences to improve the quality of early childhood.

Our Focus

The Consortium focuses on children’s spiritual development through advocacy, research, the creation of tools, and replicable practices in religious and spiritual communities and faith-based and civil society organizations that support parents, caregivers and educators in creating safe, healthy and loving environments that affirm children’s human dignity.

What we do

The Consortium develops evidence-based materials to support holistic approaches to early childhood that consider the external and structural factors that affect child upbringing.

By drawing on the deepest teaching of our religious and spiritual traditions and the latest research on child development, the Consortium provides space for dialogue and the creation of convergences to mobilize religious and spiritual communities to play a more active role in creating a better world for children.

Across the world, religious and spiritual communities play a critical role in supporting, morally, spiritually and practically, families and caregivers in child upbringing. Their focus on the ethical aspects of child-rearing, including non-violent approaches to parenting and promoting the spiritual development of children, can make a crucial contribution to creating peaceful and harmonious families and communities. This helps to break the vicious cycle whereby violence is transmitted between generations.

Nurturing values and spirituality in early childhood acts as a protective factor in preventing and mitigating violence against children at family and community levels, hence promoting the development of the whole child. The approach supports the development of children’s identities, strengthens their capacity to relate to others, learn non-violent alternatives; and it helps creating safe and empowering environments that reinforce the nurturing care that parents and caregivers should provide to children.