The World Bank
The World Bank Group (WBG) is increasing its support of early childhood initiatives around the world through financing, policy advice, technical support, and partnership activities at the country, regional and global levels, in response to convincing evidence about the benefits of investing in young children, as well as growing demand from countries.
The 2018 World Development Report “Learning to Realize Education’s Promise” highlights three approaches: 1) Targeting mothers and their babies with health and nutrition interventions during the first 1,000 days, a critical period of brain development; 2) Increasing the frequency and quality of stimulation and opportunities for home learning to improve cognitive, socio-emotional and language development; 3) Ensuring high-quality childcare centers for young children and preschool programs for children 3 to 6 years old.
The WBG leverages experts from education, nutrition, health, and social protection to build an evidence base so that countries can craft programs that fit their needs and are also cost-effective. Through new reports such as the Stepping up Early Childhood Development and articles in leading journals like the Lancet Early Childhood Development Series, the WBG is contributing to global knowledge around early childhood, highlighting new scientific evidence, building on existing findings, and proposing pathways for implementation of early childhood development at scale.
Ms. Mercy Niwe, Global Faith Initiative Lead