UNICEF calls for stronger focus on the first 1,000 days to break through the learning crisis for children in the Philippines

MANILA, 5 December 2025 — UNICEF calls on the Philippines to seize the moment and prioritize children’s health and nutrition in the first 1,000 days of life, which lay the foundation for a child’s growth, brain development, and learning, and where the return on investment is the highest. Cost-effective, high-impact policies and programmes that focus on this critical window, when development is fastest, will give children the best start—healthy and ready to acquire foundational learning and skills.

With recent learning assessments highlighting the depth of the education crisis, investing in women and children from pregnancy up to two years has never been more urgent. Evidence shows interventions during these formative years deliver the greatest impact too.

Nearly 24 per cent of children in the Philippines under five are chronically malnourished, according to the latest Expanded National Nutrition Survey by the Department of Science and Technology–Food and Nutrition Research Institute, causing irreversible harm to be learning, and productivity.

“Foundational learning in reading and math is built not only on teaching and curriculum, but also on nutrition and good health. A child who is nourished and healthy is a child who can concentrate, engage, and succeed. By ensuring that the youngest children are supported, we give them the best chance to reach their full potential and contribute to the Philippines’ human capital development. Hence, investing in the first 1,000 days is not only the right thing to do but a smart thing to do.” said Kyungsun Kim, UNICEF Philippines Representative.

Republic Act No. 11148 or the Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act , signed in 2018, mandates an integrated national and local strategy to scale up national and local health and nutrition programs through an integrated strategy to support children’s development from conception until the child’s second birthday. UNICEF commends the Government on the First 1,000 Days Cash Grant under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), which helps pregnant women and children 0-2 years from vulnerable families access essential health and nutrition services.

To support more children in the most critical years of development as mandated by the said Act, UNICEF calls for the following:

• Prioritize funding for cost-effective, high-impact early life nutrition interventions in national and local budgets, specifically:
  • Early identification and management of nutritionally at-risk pregnant women (including pregnant adolescents) with balanced protein-energy dietary supplementation
  • Promotion and support for exclusive breastfeeding for infants 0- 6 months.
  • Diversified, safe, and nutritious complementary feeding for infants and young children for 6 months up to 2 years, with continued breastfeeding.
  • Micronutrient supplementation during pregnancy and for children up to 5 years.
  • Mandatory food fortification
  • Prevention and management common childhood illnesses such as diarrhea and acute respiratory infections for children 0-5 years
  • Early identification and treatment of severe and moderate acute malnutrition among children 0- 5 years
  • Availability of potable water, and safely managed sanitation to reduce food and waterborne diseases.
  • Social protection through the 4Ps to support pregnant women and children 0-2 years to access health and nutrition services.
  • Nutrition interventions during emergencies.
• Strengthen inter-agency coordination and accountability among Department of Health, National Nutrition Council, Department of Agriculture, and Department of Social Welfare and Development to ensure coherent implementation of comprehensive health and nutrition interventions as per the abovementioned Act across national and local levels. This includes ensuring families can get help more easily by connecting them to different social protection programmes, and ensuring support continues from health and nutrition programmes to the child development centres.
• Review the milk feeding programme to ensure it supports child nutrition, health and wellbeing and does not undermine the aforementioned Act and the Executive Order No. 51, otherwise known as the “Milk Code”, by filling the supply gaps with commercial milk formula.