The Four Pillars of CEPPs

“If we’re putting millions of dollars into Head Start (educational programmes) which begin at three, four, or five years of age, and haven’t developed the appropriate brain to receive the education, it will be a waste of money. It is important to be sure that the brain has developed well in utero…  So when you start the formal education, you have the nerve cells and dendrites that can respond.”

Dr. Marian Diamond, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley

The four pillars of CEPPs are represented by the four colours in the CEPPs logo

Understand

Promoting local, national and international collaboration – to collect and expand the knowledge base of scientific evidence and best practice and to share this knowledge freely between countries across the world.

A key enabler for CEPPs is the capability to share knowledge and best practice to help mothers and babies in need, in countries throughout the world.

This will involve partnerships and knowledge sharing between contributor organisations and countries.

The CEPPs Discussion Forums provide a channel for professionals in different countries to share information and answer questions.

The Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development and the CEPPs Encyclopedia are on-line libraries, freely accessible to health care and social services professionals worldwide via the Internet.

Engage

Presenting a compelling message to policy makers at the highest level.

CEPPs invites professionals, educational institutions and organisations involved in the field of maternal health and early childhood care, to join forces in supporting the Mother and Child Manifesto and to speak with one voice.

When attending sessions at the UN, CEPPs can provide the channel for a compelling message to be heard by policy makers at the highest level.

Empower – Mothers at the Centre

Empowering communities to become a force for change

CEPPs will raise community awareness worldwide of the transformative potential of supporting maternal health and early childhood development for societies in the future.

Through this awareness, and with a consistent message, communities will be empowered to become a force for action by policy makers.

Mothers, families and caregivers will thereby be able to play an increased and central role in the creation of the societies of the future.

Realize

CEPPs will realize the vision for healthier, fairer and more peaceful societies, working bottom-up, city-by-city

CEPPs works bottom-up, promoting networks and partnerships between governments, private sector and civil society organisations at city, regional and national levels, to provide capacity for professional education and a continuum-of-care for mothers and infants during the critical period.

The focus of The Seven CEPPs is Action – providing, sharing and enhancing the resources for the progressive implementation of CEPPs in order to contribute to the wider SDG goals and to improve the lives of mothers, babies and young children now and in the future.

The CEPPs framework is based on scientific evidence, showing the economic and social benefits of supporting mothers and carers during pregnancy and the early parenting period.

Implementation of CEPPs at a national (country) level involves establishing a multi-sector, multi-stakeholder platform for consultation and involvement of all key stakeholders in Early Parenting and Early Childhood Development.

The CEPPs include a Toolkit and Roadmap for the planning and progressive implementation of CEPPs at country level.