By Lola Ayanda, Charlotte Davidi and Katie Murphy, Moving Minds Alliance
June 3, 2026 – In the outskirts of Maiduguri, in northeast Nigeria, Falmata Mohammed keeps her family going one day at a time. Displaced by conflict in Borno State, she and her husband, Mohammed, who lives with the after-effects of a stroke, have rebuilt what they can for their seven children. To earn an income, Falmata and her older children knit traditional hats. Last year, her youngest son Ibrahim fell seriously ill with severe acute malnutrition. She took him to a stabilization center run by the International Rescue Committee. He recovered and is now healthy. Falmata’s story does not begin with Ibrahim’s illness; it begins with those who care for him — caregivers doing their best to hold everything together.
The invisible foundation
When we talk about protecting children in crises, we focus on what they need: food, shelter, safety, and learning. But there is a layer beneath all this that rarely appears in aid budgets: the caregivers. Around 90 per cent of brain development occurs before age five, and what makes the difference is not just access to services but the quality of the relationship between a child and their caregiver. In crisis settings, that relationship is placed under severe pressure. Experiencing conflict, displacement, poverty, and loss can lead to prolonged stress that rewires the developing brain, compromises the immune system, and depletes the very people on whom children most depend.12
An underfunded priority
The evidence for investing in parents and other caregivers is strong. Yet only 3.8 per cent of total aid to crisis-affected countries supports early childhood development. Within that small share, 77 per cent flows to health and nutrition, leaving responsive caregiving with just 3.6 per cent. This means that about 14 cents ($0.14) of every $100 allocated to crisis-affected countries goes to responsive caregiving, and even less is allocated to mental health support for caregivers. Global official development assistance is projected to fall by 30 per cent by 2027, meaning over 1.8 billion dollars less for young children in crisis settings in 2026 and 2027 combined. In Nigeria, humanitarian appeal funding for 2025 reached only 21 per cent of the required amount.3
What works: investing in caregivers
Effective, evidence-based approaches exist, and many are low-cost and locally deliverable. A study in BMC Pediatrics examined a parenting program run by trained refugee community facilitators in Rwandan camps. Even at lower doses, it meaningfully shifted caregiving practices: more families engaged in early learning, responsive feeding improved, and home environments became richer with play materials. It worked because it was delivered by people from within the community, evidence that local knowledge and trust are not just valuable, they are essential.
Integrating caregiver support into nutrition programming also shows results. In South Darfur, combining treatment for acute malnutrition with the Go Baby Go! caregiving program led to a 30 per cent increase in child recovery rates and shorter treatment stays. War Child’s work in conflict-affected communities reinforces a consistent finding: parents who have lived through instability do not lack love for their children; they lack the structures and support that allow that love to translate into consistent, responsive care. Programs that work alongside caregivers and that honor what parents already know are the ones that create lasting change, like the Be There program in Jordan as featured in Early Childhood Matters.4
The generational stakes
The children living through crises today will be the parents and citizens of tomorrow. What happens in the early years — the relationships formed, adversity experienced, care received — not only shapes individuals but whole communities. As Dr. Tessa Roseboom has observed through her research on the multigenerational impact of famine 80 years after the Dutch Hunger Winter, the effects are felt by the children born that winter, as well as their children years later. In an interview with Van Leer Chief Executive Michael Feigelson for Early Childhood Matters, Roseboom explains that future generations are already here: “The egg that made me was formed when my mother was in my grandmother’s womb at the beginning of the Dutch Hunger Winter.” How might this influence how we care for pregnant women in crisis settings? with Van Leer Chief Executive Michael Feigelson for Early Childhood Matters, Roseboom explains that future generations are already here: “The egg that made me was formed when my mother was in my grandmother’s womb at the beginning of the Dutch Hunger Winter” How might this influence how we care for pregnant women in crisis settings?5
A call to funders and policymakers
For those who fund and design humanitarian responses, the opportunity is clear.
First, ring-fence funding for caregiver mental health and psychosocial support; these are not supplementary costs but foundational to the effectiveness of every other early childhood investment.
Second, integrate caregiver support into existing platforms: nutrition visits, health services, protection programs, and education responses all offer natural entry points.
Third, direct funding to locally-led organizations. Community and refugee-led groups are often the first responders in the most affected areas, bringing trust and proximity that external actors cannot replicate, yet they remain systematically underfunded.
Fourth, broaden the donor base. The United States contributed over 39 per cent of total early childhood funding in crisis settings in 2023. With major donors cutting budgets, philanthropies, development finance institutions, and non-traditional bilateral donors must step up.67
Falmata’s story is not finished
Back in Maiduguri, Falmata continues to knit hats and find ways to provide for her family. Ibrahim is well. But the conditions that made him vulnerable have not gone. What the international system can offer is support that meets her determination: funding that reaches her, services that see her, policies that recognize her strengths. What determines the futures of children growing up in crisis, more than almost anything else, is whether the person caring for them has what they need to care well.
Moving Minds Alliance is a multi-stakeholder alliance of 40+ organisations advocating for early childhood development in every crisis response. We advocate for better outcomes and equity for young children affected by crises everywhere.