Early childhood development
UNICEF’s work on early childhood development (ECD) lays out the essential building blocks for every growing child: nurturing care, good health, optimal nutrition, responsive caregiving, security and safety and opportunities for early learning.
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The challenge
The human brain develops most rapidly during the stage of early childhood – at least 1,000 neural connections are made per second. This could be one of the most important stages of growth when interventions are highly effective, and this is the reason UNICEF has prioritized Early Childhood Development in its overall planning.
For the first three years of life, optimal health and nutrition are among the key ingredients that enable a child to grow physically, mentally and socially.
Data from 2013 indicates a lack of adequate nutritional practices in Montenegro – only 17 percent of newborns are exclusively breastfed within the first six months, just one in seven babies are breastfed within the first hour and 44 percent of children up to five years old do not receive the minimum acceptable diet. These poor nutritional practices lead to a large number of stunted and overweight children under the age of five. Disadvantaged children are the most affected by stunting – 27 percent of Roma children are stunted. There is a strikingly high prevalence of overweight and obese children under five (one in five) and at the age of seven (one in three) – placing Montenegro in the top four European countries for the prevalence of childhood obesity and overweight children.
According to data from 2013, the coverage of children aged 24–35 months with full immunization in Montenegro was as low as 61 percent. The immunization coverage rate for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) in 2017 was 55 percent. In order to reach the required level of immunization coverage of at least 95 percent to protect children from a range of preventable diseases, UNICEF is supporting the Ministry of Health and the Institute of Public Health in the promotion of immunization and increasing parent demand for vaccines in collaboration with the relevant national authorities.
Poverty is among the biggest factors contributing to inequity in Early Childhood Development in Montenegro, and it often begins even before birth. Please see the Social Policy section for more information.
Montenegro also still faces crucial gaps in terms of the provision, utilization, quality and efficiency of Early Childhood Development (ECD) services for young children. According to data from 2013, only seven percent of children from the poorest quintile attended preschool, compared to 66 percent from the richest. According to a recent assessment, patronage nurses provided only slightly more than half of the foreseen maternal and child health preventive services, and carried out only a quarter of the foreseen visits to pregnant women during 2016. Parents, especially those from disadvantaged populations, need information and practical support on how best to care for and promote the development of their young children.
UNICEF has supported the Ministry of Health in conducting two assessments of the safety and quality of hospital care for mothers and newborn babies in Montenegro. These assessments, carried out in 2011 and 2016, resulted in the development of a number of clinical guidelines for perinatal care. The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiatives have still not been implemented nationwide.
Poverty is among the biggest factors contributing to inequity in Early Childhood Development in Montenegro, and it often begins even before birth. Please see the Social Policy section for more information.
The solution
UNICEF’s ECD programme in Montenegro spans across different sectors, including health, education and social and child protection, to ensure that all young children, especially the most vulnerable ones, from conception to the age of six (7.4 percent of the total population), achieve their developmental potential. The ECD programme follows two objectives that are indispensable for the development of every child: (1) all young children from birth to school age have equitable access to healthcare, nutrition, protection and early-learning services that address their developmental needs; and (2) parents and caregivers are supported and engaged in nurturing care and positive parenting with their young children.
Early Childhood Development (ECD) services from a cost–benefit perspective give back almost 13 percent annually.
UNICEF has addressed these needs through: initiating work on the improvement of preventive home-visit services in Montenegro to reach out to every family and ensure that every child has the best start in life; supporting parents and caregivers of children above two years old in responsive caregiving and positive parenting; backing national partners in capacity building; and supporting the introduction of evidence-based national health and nutrition guidelines and family- and baby-friendly initiatives.
Looking at the problem from a cost–benefit perspective – leaving aside childhood wellbeing – according to some estimates, the ECD investments give back almost 13 percent annually. Focusing resources on ECD interventions has multiple benefits for the country by securing smart, sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
A UNICEF awareness-raising campaign has led to an increase in the early childhood education enrolment rate by 20 percent on average in 2015–2016 in the north of the country.
