UNICEF calls for governments to prioritise early childhood development

A child’s early experience has a profound influence on their future development. UNICEF has published a report entitled ‘Early Moments Matter for Every Child’, which aims to raise awareness of the importance of children’s first 1,000 days of life for brain development. Its findings suggest that amongst 85 million children under five, the 32 countries taking part in the study do not offer what it calls the three ‘critical policies’ to support children’s early brain development. These critical policies include two years of free pre-primary education, paid breastfeeding breaks for new mothers in the first six months of a child’s life and adequate paid parental leave. According to UNICEF, governments worldwide spend an average of less than 2% of their education budgets on early childhood programmes, despite the fact that investment in this age group would yield significant economic gains in the future. Just 15 countries worldwide were found to guarantee all 3 policies, including Cuba, France, Portugal, Russia and Sweden Read more here.