International Center for Everybody's Child

Mission Statement

The primary mission of ICEC is to:(1) increase the social and psychological resources and educational opportunities provided to children, and (2) strengthen their resiliency and recovery from trauma. The mission will be accomplished by interdisciplinary teams, which include members of the medical and educational professions, working with teachers in regions where emergency situations exist to: (1) (re)establish schools; and (2) engage children in activities created to enhance their emotional and physical well being as well as their academic development and access to literacy.

Overview

One of the most critical problems of the twenty first century is the increasing exposure of children to complex trauma. Most casualties of war and natural disaster are children. Children die of starvation and treatable diseases every minute, every second, of every day. In rich nations, as well as poor, child abuse is at epidemic levels threatening the emotional health, physical well being and intellectual development of millions of traumatized children. The establishment of the International Center for Everybody’s Child (ICEC)is a response to this crisis.

Sponsorship is requested for ICEC so that international partnerships and collaborative initiatives can be developed. The purpose of these initiatives is to increase the social and psychological resources and educational opportunities of children and to strengthen their resiliency and recovery from trauma. ICEC projects engage children in activities created to enhance their emotional and physical well being as well as their academic development. The work of ICEC is local as well as global and will have a multidisciplinary focus on children & their life sustaining needs.

The intent of ICEC is to provide an emergency short-term response and long-term sustainable support for children who live in:

1. Areas of extreme poverty;
2. Places of conflict or post conflict; and
3. Parts of the world in which there are natural and social disasters.

The intent of International Center for Everybody’s Child is to:

1. Strengthen the resiliency of children;
2. Increase the possibilities for children to recover from trauma;
3. Provide children with opportunities to actively participate in a world wide educational community established through an international network known as ICEC’s Teachers Helping Teachers.

The intended outcome is more people working together, teachers from around the world working with teachers in areas of armed conflict, public health emergencies and natural disasters, on emergency education projects and long term educational initiatives. Their efforts will be guided and supported by physicians, psychologists and psychiatrists as well as humanitarian aid workers who have experience in working with children in areas where mass trauma has occurred.