"The transformative power of Early Childhood Development for equitable development"

Beijing- 22 October 2015 – As 500 Government leaders, policy experts, non-governmental organizations from 23 countries gathered for the Fourth International Childhood Development and Poverty Reduction Summit and the 2015 Asia-Pacific Regional Early Childhood Development (ECD) Conference, the call was made for increased political and financial commitment for these early years in a child's life.                                                     

The Conference, themed “The transformative power of Early Childhood Development for equitable development”, comes just weeks after world leaders adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, the post 2015 agenda that includes early childhood development as a key driver of sustainable development. It provides an opportunity for countries to share experiences to inform national action plans and develop clear targets and policies to reach every child with these critical investments.

“Our shared conviction is clear: children should be at the centre of all dimensions of sustainable development.  Early child development is fundamental to reaching our vision of ending all preventable maternal, child and adolescent deaths by 2030 and ensuring the well-being of all children, everywhere.  It is also among the keys to reducing poverty and advancing progress on all of the SDGs,” said Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary General in an opening statement read at the conference. 

Currently, an estimated 200 million children under 5 years old – or 1 in 3 children under five in low and middle income countries – don't receive the foundation they need in their early years, so fail to reach their potential in life. This ranges from lack of good health care and nutrition, appropriate stimulation, quality education and opportunity to play, to being protected from abuse. Early Childhood Development is defined as a combination of interventions addressing all dimensions of child development, from health care, nutrition, education protection and cognitive stimulation, from pregnancy to 8 years of age. 

In the opening key note address Ms. Julia Gillard, Former Prime Minister of Australia and Chair of the Global Partnership for Education, said investment in early childhood development instrumental to driving a nation's economic, and human development. Ms. Gillard will draw from her experience as a former Head of Government and Minister of Education and now a global leader on education, to argue that investing early and often in education is in the long-term and strategic interest of countries regardless of income level or geopolitical status. 

Quantitative data indicate that access to pre-primary education is improving in the region, but challenges persist.  Although numerous countries in the region, including Cambodia, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, have ECD policies and legal frameworks, there are still many gaps in implementation that needs to be strengthened. Ethnic and linguistic communities, children with disabilities and indigenous minorities appear to be under-researched and underserved.  Gender and wealth also have significant impact on early childhood. 

Mr Lu Mai, Secretary General of the local Conference host, the China Development Research Foundation (CDRF) is “pleased to work together with the Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC) and their core partners on highlighting the importance of Early Childhood Development at this very high-level event”. 

“Early childhood development must be a priority in National Action Plans. ECD is the foundation for sustainable development. It is not a single intervention, but a comprehensive package of interventions which benefits children, their families, communities and countries.” said Dr Mae Chu Chang, ARNECs Board Director. “Its' impacts are far reaching – increasing equality, reducing poverty and helping all especially the most vulnerable. Investing in ECD is the foundation which will enable countries to reach many of the other Goals.”  

As part of the conference, countries will have the opportunity to learn from other's success. China's recently issued National Child Development Plan (for 2014‒2020) for Poverty-Stricken Areas. This plan targets 40 million children in 680 counties and prioritizes early interventions not only to increase child survival, but also to promote healthy child development, from birth to the completion of compulsory education, through provision of quality care and comprehensive protection.India's Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) is the world's largest integrated early childhood programme, with over 40,000 centres nationwide. Since its inception in 1975, the programme has matured and expanded, despite difficulties in adapting to the vastly different local circumstances found on the Indian subcontinent. 

“The argument for investing in early childhood development is clear. We know that during the first year of life almost 1000 brain cells connect per second,” said Pia Britto, UNICEF's global senior Advisor for Early Childhood Development.“These connections are the building blocks of a child's life, determining their cognitive, emotional and social development, their capacity to learn and their future success.ECD is no longer just about early education - we know how important a role nutrition, protection, loving care and stimulation play in the development of a child's brain.” 

Sven Coppens, Country Director of Plan International China stated, “Plan International has been working on early childhood care and development for years in China and other 50 developing countries in the world. We work to promote free, equal access to quality early education for all children, especially vulnerable children, and are committed to working with children, communities and our partners to ensure their rights to a good and healthy start in life are respected, protected and promoted.”

Investment in quality early childhood programmes  have also proven to be a very effective use of government resources: “Save the Children is excited about the new SDG framework and plans to make sure that over the next 15 years we do all we can to support its delivery. We are particularly concerned to ensure that the most deprived children are not left behind. This is one of the reasons why we plan to concentrate on early childhood issues. The World Bank and others estimate that there is a saving of US$6 for every US$1 spent on early childhood programmes. Returns double when the most vulnerable children are targeted,” said David skinner, Director of Save the Children's Education Global Initiative. Save the Children will continue to campaign to remove critical barriers to survival and learning for millions of the most deprived and marginalized children all around the world. 

About ARNEC:

The Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC) is a network established in 2008 to build strong partnerships across sectors and different disciplines, organisations, agencies and institutions in the Asia-Pacific region to advance the agenda on and investment in early childhood.

With the Secretariat based in Singapore, it is one of the most extensive and fast growing networks for early childhood development in the Asia-Pacific region, covering 47 countries and includes East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Pacific sub-regions, as well as Central Asia to a small extent.  

We are making efforts to create a stronger and more dynamic ECD community in the Asia-Pacific, by equipping ARNEC members with updated knowledge to help them become effective advocates for holistic and inclusive ECD, by creating environment where members feel motivated and connected to participate and contribute in our activities, while making sure that ARNEC membership represents diverse communities and interests that make up the field of early childhood.

Website: www.arnec.net

About CDRF:

The China Development Research Foundation is a nationwide organisation initiated by the Development Research Center of the State Council. It has received not only profound support from leading members of the State Council, but has also received kind instruction and assistance from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the People's Bank of China.

The aims of establishing this Foundation are threefold: 1) to support and promote policy consultation and academic research in China, 2) to render service to the social and economic development of China, and 3) to keep the government decision-making procedure operating in a scientific and democratic manner.

The Foundation was formally registered in December 1997. Mr. Xue Muqiao and Mr. Ma Hong, founders of the Development Research Center of the State Council and initiators of the Foundation, were appointed its honorary presidents.

About theorganisers:

The conference is organised by the China Development Research Foundation (CDRF) and the Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC) www.arnec.net  including its core partners United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Regional Office for East Asia and the Pacific http://www.unicef.org/eapro/ and Regional Office for South Asia http://www.unicef.org/rosa/; and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)  www.unescobkk.org; Plan International www.plan-international.org/; Save the Children www.savethechildren.org and ChildFund International https://www.childfund.org/.