Unlocking Potential Early

Highlights

The Government of Ghana has made important progress in advancing policies and programmes to improve outcomes for children, including the adoption of a comprehensive Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Policy (2025–2035). While investments have expanded over time, emerging evidence highlights imbalances in how public resources are allocated across the child life cycle, with comparatively limited investment in the earliest years when it matters most.

This report, developed by UNICEF, presents new evidence on how Ghana invests in children from the prenatal period through adolescence. Drawing on the first age-disaggregated analysis of public spending in Ghana, the report examines patterns of expenditure across age groups, income levels, and geographic contexts. It highlights disparities in per capita investment, particularly between younger and older children, and across wealth quintiles and rural–urban settings, and explores their implications for equity, child development, and long-term human capital outcomes.

Complementing the quantitative analysis, the report reviews policy frameworks and international evidence to identify the systemic drivers of these imbalances, including the concentration of spending in later childhood and the limited availability of income support and early childhood services. It also models reform scenarios to assess the costs and potential returns of a more balanced and comprehensive child policy portfolio.

Together, the findings highlight both Ghana’s strong foundation and the opportunity to further align public investment with national commitments and global evidence. The report contributes to ongoing policy dialogue on how to strengthen equity and efficiency in public spending, with a particular focus on increasing investment in the early years to unlock children’s full potential and support inclusive economic development.