This page is background information, last updated in May 2002 and still available for reference. For the latest on the Special Session on Children, please go to the Special Session index.

Press kit

Issues & Information
Early childhood protection

High-quality early childhood care brings lifelong benefits. Childhood is a time of long-lasting influence. And the first 36 months of a child’s life are especially significant for physical, emotional and intellectual development. The effects of good nutrition and health care, clean water and sanitation, a nurturing environment and the values instilled during this time can last a lifetime.

Investing in the early years assures great economic returns.These returns include higher productivity over a lifetime, savings in the remedial health and education costs that occur when the early years are neglected, fewer demands on the social welfare and justice systems and much more. Failure to invest can lead to destructive disparities and entrench poverty across generations.

The seeds of conflict and intolerance are sown early. During children’s early years, exposure to
violence in the home and community socializes children to accept violence as the response to conflict and frustration. Seeds of tolerance and respect for others must be sown in the early years.

Gender discrimination and violence undermine survival and human progress. Approximately
450 million adult women in developing countries are stunted, the result of malnutrition linked in part to gender discrimination in their early years. Furthermore, children who witness domestic violence face a greater likelihood of depression, poor school performance and the risk of perpetrating violence themselves.

Parents must be prepared for a pivotal role. Parents play critical roles in assuring a child the best beginning and need support and resources to do their best. This starts with attention to a mother’s nutrition and well-being and providing support for her as she breastfeeds. Parents and caregivers need to be prepared so they can continue providing their children with the best possible nutrition and health care and can be positive role models. Early childhood education programmes also need to promote gender equality and respect for the rights of women and to encourage fathers to play active roles in child-rearing.

Early childhood care encompasses many of the programmes routinely under taken by communities. taken by communities. Early childhood services are not new, separate programmes but are integrated across many existing sectors, including health, nutrition, sanitation and pre-school education. Because of the multidisciplinary nature of early childhood development (ECD), there must be accountability for measurable progress in ECD goals, or government responsibility can slip between the cracks that divide ministries and departments.

Progress on meeting the goals of the World Summit for Children orld Summit for Children

Great strides have been made in some aspects of ECD, especially in the reduction of infant and child mortality and in micronutrient supplementation. Below are several key goals established at the 1990 World Summit for Children that address early childhood development. (Goals related to immunization and micronutrients are discussed in the fact sheet on ‘Immunization Plus’.)

• Infant and under-five mortality rates: The 1990 goal was reduction by one third in both infant and under-five mortality rates. There has been an 11 per cent reduction globally, with the under-five mortality rate declining from 93 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 83 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000. More than 60 countries did achieve a 33 per cent reduction, and by the end of 2000 there were 3 million fewer child deaths each year. By the end of the year 2000, 1.5 million fewer children died than in 1990.
• Maternal Mortality: The goal was to reduce global maternal mortality rates overall by half. There has been no tangible reduction in maternal mortality. The global maternal mortality ratio (deaths per 100,000 live births) is 400; in sub-Saharan Africa the ratio is 1,100. In comparison, the rate for industrialized countries is 12. Around the world the some 515,000 women still die annually as a result of pregnancy and childbirth.
• Malnutrition: The goal of the Summit was to reduce severe and moderate malnutrition among children under five by half. Overall, this goal has not been met, though the total number of malnourished children has declined from 177 million to 150 million. There was a decline from 32 per cent of children under five in developing countries suffering from malnutrition in 1990 to 28 per cent in 2000.
• Birthweight: The Summit goal was a reduction in the rate of children born with a low birthweight (less than 2.5 kg) to less than 10 per cent. This goal has been reached in a number of developing countries. The best available estimates indicate that 15 per cent of children in devloping countries are born with low birthweight. By 2000 the rate in 100 developing countries had decreased to below the goal of 10 per cent. However, the majority of infants in developing countries are not weighed at birth, thus estimates are biased. And rates in South Asia remain very high, at 25 per cent.
• Water: The 1990 goal was universal access to safe drinking water. Access has increased, from 77 per cent of people having access to clean drinking water in 1990 to 82 per cent in 2000. This represents nearly one billion people with access to improved water supplies. Nevertheless, 1.1 billion people still lack such access.
• Sanitation: The Summit goal was universal access to sanitary means of excreta disposal. The goal of universal sanitation has not been reached, but access has risen from 51 per cent of the world’s population in 1990 to 61 per cent in 2000. This means that nearly 1 billion more people had access in 2000. However, 2.4 billion people still lack access to basic sanitation, including half of all people in Asia.
• Early childhood development: The goal was to expand ECD activities. Support for ECD and enrolment in ECD programmes has kept pace with or exceeded population growth rates in most regions. In Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, however, there has been a virtual collapse of public provisioning for pre-school education.

Unfinished agenda: More investment needed in the early years

While some progress has been made during the decade, neglect, malnutrition, discrimination and violence in the early childhood years persist, in both developing and industrialized countries. A child born today has a 3-in-10 chance of living in extreme poverty. Every single day, 30,000 children under five die, mainly from preventable causes, and many more lack access to basic social services. But these conditions are neither inevitable nor immutable. Success will depend, as it always has, on the convergence of political will, knowledge and the resources to make change. Critical to this commitment will be:

An end to gender discrimination: It is estimated that there would be between 60 million and 100 million more girls and women in the world were it not for neglect and discrimination in South and East Asia stemming from the strong cultural preference for male children. Countless girls and women in other countries, regions and households are systematically discriminated against and denied the necessary ingredients for healthy development. Putting an end to gender discrimination will require legislative changes and a shift in attitudes and practices, shifts that are long-term and must involve every member of society.

Debt relief: Reduction in the burden of debt faced by poor countries is critical to releasing resources for investment in early childhood development. By the late 1990s, the 41 heavily indebted poor countries owed about $205 billion. One inevitable impact of this is severe under-investment in basic social services.

Investment: Progress in early childhood development cannot be made with a quick fix. It requires wide-ranging and long-term investments, which can deter some political leaders. Assigning accountability on each goal is critical if progress is to be made. In addition, much more must be done to end armed conflict so resources can be invested in children, rather than in arms.

Progress in ECD does not have to be expensive; many of the activities are low-cost family- and community-based interventions. We adults have the power to reduce the millions of preventable child deaths each year and to help millions more children reach their full potential. Everyone – goverments, NGOs, international organizations, communities and parents – must play a vital and distinct role.