The intersection between Early Childhood Development (ECD), peacebuilding, and sustainable
development is a complex and newly emerging area of research in the cross-disciplinary field of early
childhood and international development. This paper is important for its contribution to the
developing knowledge-base in its conceptualizations of the role of young children in the promotion of
social cohesion and peaceful societies. It begins by discussing the increasingly high profile of ECD
in the global advocacy for building sustainable development. The discussion presents a
multidimensional conceptualization of early childhood that is rooted in a wider social justice and
human rights agenda and encapsulated in an ecological framework that depicts the intrinsic
relationship between the child, family, community, and wider society. The findings reveal the
potential linkages between ECD and young children’s role in fostering peace as conceptualized in
three interrelated paradigms – a rights-based, participatory, and pedagogical approach. The paper
argues for the importance of advancing further research to foster greater understanding of the
connections between children and peacebuilding especially in the context of fragile and conflictaffected
countries.