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During the week of October 21st, Peru’s Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion (MIDIS) dedicated its outstanding annual event, Social Inclusion Week, to the topic of early childhood. A huge sign of Peru’s commitment to early childhood is that the event was kicked off by the nation’s president along with the ministers of Development and Social Inclusion, Health, Education, … [Read more...] about In Peru: Early Childhood First

I am preparing my presentation on a recent IDB study for the 18th annual meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA)  conference in Mexico DF. LACEA is an international association of economists with research interest in Latin American issues. It was launched in 1992 to facilitate the exchange of ideas between economists and policy-makers. From its … [Read more...] about Is Latin America different right from the start?

I once overheard the following comment: “You have to take classes and pass a test to drive a car, but for something as important as raising a kid...they don’t make you do anything!” I still find this thought rather funny, and I imagine it could lead to endless debates about freedom and the role of the government (but that’s not the subject of this post). I decided to start off … [Read more...] about The Parenting Gap

In recent weeks, it seems that, for me at least, all roads lead to Utah. It happens that, more than once and by different paths, I came upon the story I want to share in this post. It deals with a pioneering public-private partnership that recently came about in the Granite School District near Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. … [Read more...] about Pay for Success

“The quality of early childhood services is critical for two main reasons. The first reason is humanistic in nature, because it constitutes a basic element of children’s wellbeing, and the second is that without an educated, skilled and productive population, the region cannot compete in terms of the global economy,” noted Santiago Levy, Vice President for Sectors and Knowledge … [Read more...] about The Quality of Care in Early Childhood: A Challenge for Everyone, Both Big and Small