Early childhood development

Over the last decade, the Ministries of Health and Education and Youth in Jamaica have been working together to set up an island-wide system of ongoing support for young children with disabilities (ages 0-6). With UNICEF's support, the Early Childhood Commission has developed several national standardized tools for teachers to screen young…

Lead is poisoning around one in three children globally on a massive and previously unrecognized scale. Lead poisoning is a major contributor to intellectual disability among children in low- and middle-income countries. Lead is a public health hazard in every region of the world, contributing to disease burden, disability and death. Most of the…

The UNICEF Vision for Early Childhood Development is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and supports the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It outlines UNICEF’s intent to support an organization-wide approach to child development in the early years of life, drawing on its mandate for child rights, multisectoral expertise,…

This WHO-UNICEF Global Report is a call for action to intentionally include children and young people with developmental disabilities in renewed global and country level efforts to enable transformations towards the SDGs.  It proposes priority actions to accelerate individual-, family-, community-, and society-level changes to achieve inclusion…

In 2022, UNICEF saw important results for children amidst COVID–19 recovery, conflicts and climate change. With an unwavering commitment, UNICEF remained steadfast in achieving the rights of all children, thanks to record-breaking support from donors and partners. Flexible funding from public and private partners was particularly instrumental in…, Filename: GoalArea1_FINAL_WEB.pdf Report created by: Creatrix Designer Organization: [Personal and organization information from the Preferences > Identity dialog.], Summary, The checker found no problems in this document. Needs manual check: 0 Passed manually: 2 Failed manually: 0 Skipped: 0 Passed: 30 Failed: 0, Detailed Report, Document, Rule Name Status Description Accessibility permission flag Passed Accessibility permission flag must be set Image-only PDF Passed Document is not image-only PDF Tagged PDF Passed Document is tagged PDF Logical Reading Order Passed manually Document structure provides a logical reading order Primary language Passed Text language is specified Title…, Page Content, Rule Name Status Description Tagged content Passed All page content is tagged Tagged annotations Passed All annotations are tagged Tab order Passed Tab order is consistent with structure order Character encoding Passed Reliable character encoding is provided Tagged multimedia Passed All multimedia objects are tagged Screen flicker Passed Page will…, Forms, Rule Name Status Description Tagged form fields Passed All form fields are tagged Field descriptions Passed All form fields have description, Alternate Text, Rule Name Status Description Figures alternate text Passed Figures require alternate text Nested alternate text Passed Alternate text that will never be read Associated with content Passed Alternate text must be associated with some content Hides annotation Passed Alternate text should not hide annotation Other elements alternate text Passed Other…, Tables, Rule Name Status Description Rows Passed TR must be a child of Table, THead, TBody, or TFoot TH and TD Passed TH and TD must be children of TR Headers Passed Tables should have headers Regularity Passed Tables must contain the same number of columns in each row and rows in each column Summary Passed Tables must have a summary, Lists, Rule Name Status Description List items Passed LI must be a child of L Lbl and LBody Passed Lbl and LBody must be children of LI, Headings, Rule Name Status Description Appropriate nesting Passed Appropriate nesting Back to Top Spotlight on theUNICEF HIV/AIDS FundResults achieved in 2022 to achieve an AIDS-free future for children and adolescents U NIC EF/ UN I423 741/ Sch erm bruc ker Spotlight on the UNICEF HIV/AIDS FundResults achieved in 2022 to achieve an AIDS-free future for…

A woman wearing white with a pink scarf poses in a garden. ©  UNICEF Erinna Dia, Associate Director, Early Childhood Development Full credit must be given. Erinna Dia took up her position as Associate Director for Early Childhood Development (ECD) in March 2021. As the global lead for ECD, she is driven by the desire that all girls and boys get…, Resources for the press, Media contacts See UNICEF's range media contacts, available as communications resources for press colleagues. Press centre Browse our extensive resources for journalists and media, showcasing UNICEF's efforts around the world. Experts Talk to our leading experts, available for commentary on child health, nutrition, protection, water, sanitation,…, More UNICEF to explore

In 2016, the Government of Nigeria adopted the Learning Through Play (LTP) approach in early childhood education as part of an investment in quality and inclusion. This case study outlines the lessons learnt from the LTP approach and pilot, which utilised School Support Officers to assess the quality of pre-primary education provision within…

This case study outlines how the Early Childhood Education and Care Quality Framework and strategy in Bulgaria aimed to bring coherence to public early childhood education and care services, by establishing quality standards and common measurement tools, to support quality early childhood education in Bulgaria. 

In Rwanda, ensuring children were enrolled in pre-primary education meant finding ways to support new early childhood education (ECE) centres to meet national quality standards. This case study outlines how UNICEF supported the Ministry of Education to develop minimum standards for ECE to guide the quality assurance of the subsector, and increase…

Globally, an estimated 250 million of children under age 5 are at risk of poor development due to a lack of nurturing care. This has implications not only for children, but for families and societies as well. In response, Dubai Cares in partnership with UNICEF supported the development of a declaration to elevate early childhood development to…

The financing for Early Childhood Education (ECE) is quite low. While countries are investing in early years’ education, the contributions are relatively small, inconsistent, and unsustainable. Investment in early years has a far-reaching impact as it contributes towards the child’s development, readiness for primary schooling and is a key…

Despite the transformative role preprimary education can play in addressing gender inequalities and challenging common gender norms and stereotypes while they are being acquired by the youngest learners, boys and girls continue to have different classroom experiences. Gender biases and stereotypes are frequently reproduced in teacher-student…