A Message from Jane Goodall

Dr. Jane Goodall with Tanzanian children

“I would like to share with you details of an initiative in which I am personally involved in my capacity as co-chair of the State of the World Forum. It concerns an issue which I believe is one of the most critical and challenging that we face today -- parenting and child-hood in a changing world.

During my 37 years studying the social behaviour of our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees, we have collected data that demonstrates the importance of early experience -- especially the type of mothering and family structure--in the moulding of adult behaviour. Those individuals with affectionate, supportive and playful mothers are those who are best able to form relaxed relationships with other members of the group throughout life.  Those with more punitive and rejecting mothers tend to be tense and nervous in their adult interactions. Those who are orphaned or go through some kind of trauma in early infancy are likely to develop a variety of behavioral disorders that may persist throughout life.

There is overwhelming evidence from studies of human infant interaction, including new research in the development of the brain, that points to the vital importance of early child-hood experience in our own species also. Women in ever-increasing numbers are now managing the double burden of mothering and worklife without even the support of an extended family.  In a world in which societal change is rapid and widespread, where there is political instability, increasing urban violence and above all, continuing population growth, more of our children are at risk than ever before.

These children are the ingredients that will shape the 21st century world. What can be done, knowing the nature of the problem, to help them?"

The Whole Child Initiative is one of several Strategic Initiatives of the State of the World Forum.  The Initiative seeks to integrate the insights of current research in the neurosciences, child development and learning with global models and "best practices" and to promote their application in the design of social and educational policies. Convened by Dr. Jane Goodall, the Initiative was established in 1997 as an umbrella for networking on child-related issues with concerned organizations and individuals.

In the past ten years, exciting breakthroughs in clinical, social, and neuroscientific research have provided a detailed view of how children optimally develop. Advances in functional scan imaging have revealed that the human brain is only partially formed at birth and that early experiences can change its physical structure and wiring. Together with Dr. Stanley Greenspan, one of America's leading child psychiatrists, a group of prominent clinicians and researchers has identified the critical requirements for the post-natal development of a healthy mind which they call the "irreducible needs" of infants and children, or the factors that must be present to enable young children to progress successfully from one developmental stage to another.

Briefly, the irreducible needs of children are defined as:

1) a safe, secure and nurturing environment that includes a daily relationship with at least one stable, predictable, comforting and protective adult;

2) emotional interactions geared to the child's developmental needs and level; 

3) ongoing intense relationships with the same caregivers, including the primary one, early in life and  throughout childhood;

4) sights, sounds, touches and other sensations tailored to the baby's unique nervoussystem to foster learning, language, awareness, attention, and self-control;

5) experiences that build a sense of initiative and competency including risk-taking and failure;

6) limits and expectation/structure and clear boundaries;

7) stable neighborhoods and communities within which families can achieve these goals.

The recognition that certain "irreducible needs" of the child must be met at various stages of development requires a fundamental reconsideration of how children are being raised in contemporary societies.

The costs of ignoring the basic early needs of our children at all levels of society are staggering and far outweigh the investment we make in the early years. The cycle of damage begins early -- in the young pregnant teen's womb, impoverishes a life with frustration and violence, and ends up with a human being lost to himself and society through murder or incarceration -- and costs untold wasted billions. 

At the same time, we see the challenges of increasing numbers of working parents struggling to meet and balance family and financial needs. These challenges have finally gained national attention in the United States, where in the fall of 1997 the White House hosted a Conference on Childcare at which issues of quality, affordability and availablity of childcare were discussed.  

For the past two years, the State of the World Forum has explored the critical needs of children which ensure their healthy development. Through its "The Whole Child Initiative" the Forum is now putting a spotlight on work-family challenges and on model childcare programs that support the healthy development of younger children throughout the world.  In the U.S. over 50% of children are growing up in various day care facilities,  80% of  which are inadequate and not properly regulated. Given the fact that the U.S. falls far below international standards in providing quality care for its youngest children, we believe that we have much to learn about childcare policies from the international community, and that all countries might benefit from recent findings on early childhood development.

To this end, the Forum is collaborating closely with Kenneth Jaffe of the International Child Resource Institute (ICRI) to bring together an international panel of policy makers and child development experts, from Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia at the annual five-day State of the World Forum gathering October 27 - November 1, 1998. The Panel will examine the impact of world-wide social trends and market forces on the ways societies have traditionally cared for their children. Dr. Greenspan's "Index of Irreducible Needs" will be used to help provide a context for discussions on childcare policies. The Panel will meet with our ongoing Working Group for interdis-ciplinary dialogue, to profile model programs that help meet the "irreducible needs of children," and to initiate projects promoting criteria for measuring quality care and publicizing cutting edge research.
 

PROJECT CO-DIRECTOR: Kenneth Jaffe, M. A., J.D.

Mr. Jaffe, the director of the International Child Resource Institute, a non-profit organization founded in 1981 to improve the lives of families and children around the world.  ICRI has set up a variety of measurably successful child-outreach programs across the globe.  Mr. Jaffe oversees 52 dedicated field workers in offices and affiliated projects in the U.S., Brazil, the Netherlands, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malaysia, Eritrea, and Sudan, and is frequently consulted on childcare issues by government bodies and corporations around the world.  When invited to assist local governments, ICRI's intent is always to build self-sufficient and internally-managed programs.
 

Whole Child Initiative Projects

The International Panel Discussion and Forum working sessions will serve as the basis for converting the Initiative's mission into action and developing the following projects:

Launching the International Campaign on the Irreducible Needs of Children Index

To develop our international campaign to promote the Index of Irreducible Needs of Children and encourage its use, we are assembling an International Interdisciplinary Advisory group and creating an electronic database to catalogue research, solutions, and baseline criteria for measuring quality care. We plan to disseminate this information in electronic and written form and enhance its findings through collaborating and networking with a variety of organizations such as the Jane Goodall Institute, UNICEF, the Carnegie Corporation, the Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Develop-ment, Johnson & Johnson, and others.

This Index has already been circulated amongst members of the U.S. Congress, and has been well received by both Republicans and Democrats alike. These insights are critical at a time when legislators in the U.S. are reconsidering policy regarding childcare. Dr. Greenspan has recently presented the Index before the Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families and continues to be consulted on children's issues by legislators, foundations and major think tanks.

PROJECT DIRECTOR: Stanley  I. Greenspan, M.D.

Dr . Greenspan has had a long and distinguished career in the field of child psychiatry and development.  He is currently Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Behavioral Sciences, and Pediatrics at George  Washington University's Medical School, and Chairman of the Inter- disciplinary Council on Developmental & Learning Disorders. His early intervention work has demonstrated the extraordinary capacity for healing that an infant's mind possesses. He co-founded Zero to Three, a national center for infants, toddlers and families, and has been director of Clinical Infant Development at the NIMH.  Dr. Greenspan has authored more than 100 articles and two dozen books, including his recent compelling book, The Growth of the Mind and the Endangered Origins of Intelligence, in which he postulates the new view that the mind's highest capacities have a foundation in early emotional experiences.
 

Publishing Materials on Global Policies that Promote the Needs of Families   and Children

To educate policy makers, parents, careproviders and the general public, the research supporting the Index of Irreducible Needs will be published in a variety of formats.  We are currently developing information "toolkits" specifically tailored to diverse readerships, and are planning a Whole Child Catalog creatively packaged as a book and an interactive CD. A publication on "Global Best Practices" for distribution to American and global policy makers responsible for children's issues is also being considered.
 

Co-producing a Television Documentary, "Who's Minding Our Children?"

To reach the general public, the Forum will collaborate with Screen Media Partners and Project Manager Dori Cismowski, an award-winning producer, writer and director, to produce a one-hour documentary for national and international outlets, currently entitled "Who's Minding Our Children?"  The film will bring to life many of the childcare issues to be addressed at this year's International Panel Discussion on work-family issues and will feature behind-the-scenes tours of innovative childcare centers around the world that are responsive to the latest findings on children's development. Based upon successful coverage, the program may be continued as an ongoing series.  It will also serve as a companion to materials published by the Forum.
 

Management

The Whole Child Initiative serves as an umbrella organization for child-related issues at the State of the World Forum. The Initiative is managed by Claire Ryle Garrison, a former kindergarten teacher and mother of two sons, who has organized major international medical and cultural conferences and exchanges; Anya Kucharev, an editor and translator with an interest in cross-cultural communication; and Jocelyn Stoller, a learning development specialist and child advocate. They are collaborating with a network of organizations and the Whole Child Initiative Working Group.

The Working Group consists of experts in developmental psychology, neonatology, and education as well as hands-on child advocates, and directors of successful social service programs.  It includes such well-known personalities as actor-director and child activist Rob Reiner and renowned scholars: primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall; Dr. Stanley Greenspan, child psychiatrist, author, and founder of Zero-to-Three; and Dr. Marshall Klaus, a neonatologist, author, and pioneer researcher in parent-infant bonding issues. They have agreed to serve as an advisory body and to review any materials the Initiative publishes and distributes. Our network of organizations includes the Jane Goodall Institute, the Children's Defense Fund, UNICEF, Johnson & Johnson, Zero-to-Three, the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America, The Families and Work Institute, the Institute for Play, the International Child Resource Institute, European Commission Network on Childcare, and the I Am Your Child Campaign.