| AUTHOR | Patrice L. Engle, et al. |
| ORGANIZATION | Lancet |
| TYPE | Working Paper |
| DATE | 2007 |
| TOPIC | Child poverty and disparities |
| LANGUAGE | English |
This paper assesses strategies to promote child development and to prevent or ameliorate the loss of developmental potential. The most effective early child development programmes provide direct learning experiences to children and families, are targeted toward younger disadvantaged children, are of longer duration, high quality, high intensity and are integrated with family support, health, nutrition, or educational systems and services. Despite convincing evidence, programme coverage is low. To acheive the Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty and ensuring primary school completion for both girls and boys, governments and civil society should consider expanding high quality, cost-effective early child development programmes.
