The Mother Child Education Foundation (AÇEV) has called for early childhood development to be prioritized in global climate policies and financing, highlighting the disproportionate impact of the climate crisis on young children and their families during a panel in Istanbul on Tuesday.
The foundation will organize a Care Pavilion in Antalya during COP31 from Nov. 13-15, alongside the Global Alliance for Care (GAC) and in cooperation with Konyaaltı Municipality, to bring the link between care and climate resilience to the international agenda.
Extreme heat, floods, droughts and other disasters affect not only the environment but also children's health and development and families' living conditions, AÇEV said, emphasizing that children whose development is already at risk due to socioeconomic circumstances face deeper inequalities as the climate crisis intensifies.
The foundation said access to quality early childhood care, education and family support services can strengthen communities' resilience to climate-related shocks.
"Early childhood investments should be recognized as an integral part of climate action,” AÇEV said, drawing on its 33 years of experience supporting children and families.
AÇEV General Manager Nalan Yalçın said the climate crisis deepens existing social inequalities, particularly affecting young children and families facing socioeconomic disadvantages.
"When we provide young children and their families with development-supporting care, they become more resilient to the impacts of the climate crisis. This investment translates into climate adaptation and climate action for society and the world,” Yalçın said.
Since its establishment in 1993, AÇEV has reached approximately 1.5 million children, parents and women and trained 15,000 volunteer educators to deliver its programs, Yalçın said.
The foundation stressed that early childhood services, including health care, nutrition, child protection, family support and early education, should receive greater attention in international climate financing mechanisms.
It cited its Child and Family Centers established in Adıyaman, Gaziantep and Hatay in southeastern Türkiye following the Feb. 6 earthquakes as examples of how supporting children and caregivers can contribute to recovery after disasters.
AÇEV Strategy, International Programs and Partnerships Director Suna Hanöz-Penney said evidence increasingly showed that investing in children's early years and the people who care for them generated significant social returns.
Such investments support children's potential and well-being while contributing to social welfare and sustainable development, she said.
Adrian Cerezo, founder of the University of Maine's Early Childhood and Sustainable Development Research Initiative and a senior researcher at Yale University's Center for Early Childhood Studies, said providing essential care for young children and their families was a proven, cost-effective and immediately available way to strengthen community resilience.
He also said comprehensive, adequately funded care programs could help reduce net greenhouse gas emissions.
"The estimated global financing gap is between $80 billion and $90 billion (about TL 4 trillion and TL 4.5 trillion),” Cerezo said, calling for early childhood development to be recognized as a building block of climate adaptation and climate risk reduction in international negotiations.
Hasan Deniz, AÇEV's director of corporate partnerships, advocacy and fatherhood programs, said the Care Pavilion would address a wide range of issues, from early childhood care and care for older people and people with disabilities to financing and the design of child- and family-friendly cities.
The pavilion will bring together more than 50 national and international stakeholders from Türkiye and other countries, he said.
AÇEV is also working with partners in preparation for the first global summit focused on financing early childhood development, scheduled for June 2027 under Theirworld's Act for Early Years campaign.