Early Moments Matter
The first 1,000 days can shape a child’s future. We have one chance to get it right.
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The first years of life have a profound effect on a child’s future – on her brain development, her health, her happiness, her ability to learn in school, her well-being and even the amount of money she can earn as an adult.
In this formative stage of life, a baby’s brain can form more than one million new brain connections every single second – a pace never repeated again.
Early moments matter. That’s why the right food, stimulation and care – or eat, play, love – are essential to a baby’s brain development in the first 1,000 days of life.
UNICEF’s Early Moments Matter campaign aims to raise awareness about the importance of healthy brain development in the earliest years of life, increase investment by governments and businesses in Early Childhood Development programmes, policies and services, and support parents and caregivers to give their children the best start in life.
Building brains, building futures: A six-point call to action
The evidence is clear: Early childhood development must be a global and national priority. Governments have already pledged to achieve the early childhood development targets in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But they need to back up this pledge with action and place early childhood development at the top of their economic and political agendas.
- Invest urgently in services that give young children, especially the most deprived, the best start in life.
- Expand access to effective and essential early childhood development services in homes, schools, communities and health clinics.
- Make family-friendly early childhood development policies a national priority – and a private sector imperative.
- Collect data on essential indicators of early childhood development and track progress.
- Provide dedicated leadership for early childhood development programmes and coordinate efforts more effectively across sectors.
- Drive demand for high-quality early childhood development services.
Eat-Play-Love: Build your baby’s brain
Children everywhere deserve a healthy start in life and the chance to reach their full potential. When we invest in early childhood development, we invest in better educational outcomes, a more skilled future workforce, and economic growth. We know how much your support will drive momentum around this important topic, and we hope that you will join us.
Three things you can do:
- Show leadership support for this campaign by recording and sharing a video shot on your mobile phone of you (and your child if you like) using the hashtag #EarlyMomentsMatter
- Make the Early Moments Matter inside the office by holding a discussion on parenting and look at how family-friendly your workplace is.
- Donate to UNICEF to ensure that the Early Moments Matter for every child.
Did you know that 80 per cent of a baby’s brain development happens before age 3? #EarlyMomentsMatter - babies need nutrition, protection and stimulation at this crucial age, from Mom and from Dad.
UNICEF Parenting
UNICEF understands that every new parent has thousands of questions. That’s why we launched UNICEF Parenting: to support parents and caregivers who do the most important job in the world.
UNICEF Parenting brings together some of the world’s leading baby experts to help parents raise healthy and happy children. Information parents can trust. Information that is useful. Information that will help them make the most of the first 1,000 days with their child.