Effectiveness of Early Childhood Development Interventions in Refugee and Humanitarian Settings in Selected African Countries: A Systematic Review

This project is a systematic review examining the effectiveness of Early Childhood Development (ECD) interventions implemented in refugee and humanitarian settings in selected African countries. Young children affected by displacement and humanitarian crises face heightened risks to their development, yet evidence on the effectiveness of ECD programmes in these contexts remains fragmented and uneven in quality. Building on prior scoping work that mapped ECD interventions in refugee settings in Africa, this review focuses on evaluating intervention effectiveness using studies that report measured child outcomes. The review will synthesise evidence from peer-reviewed literature and grey literature, including evaluations conducted by humanitarian and development organisations. The primary aim of the review is to assess how effective ECD interventions are in improving outcomes for young children in refugee and humanitarian settings. A secondary aim is to examine implementation-related factors reported within effectiveness studies, including barriers and facilitators influencing girls’ access to and participation in ECD interventions. The review will follow established systematic review methods, including transparent eligibility criteria, systematic searching of relevant databases, risk of bias assessment, and grading of the certainty of evidence. Findings from this review will support evidence-informed policy and practice by identifying what works, how well it works, and under what conditions ECD interventions can be most effective in humanitarian contexts.