Closing Gaps in Early Childhood Development: A Renewed Commitment

The Convention on the Rights of the Child, a global commitment to protect and promote children’s healthy development and fulfillment of their potential, was adopted 35 years ago. On this World Children’s Day, during the event Challenging Inequalities: How to Close Gaps in Early Childhood Development, we asked ourselves: Have we lived up to this commitment? What challenges do children face today? And what must we do to address them?

Since 1989, Latin America and the Caribbean have made significant progress in two determinants of poor child development: poverty and chronic malnutrition. The percentage of children under 4 years of age living in households with a daily per capita income below US$5USD fell by an average of 40%, according to household surveys in 16 countries. And chronic malnutrition in 24 countries fell, on average, 20%, according to UNICEF, WHO, World Bank data. Progress is evident, but much remains to be done across several fronts.

Challenges Deepening Inequalities in Early Childhood

As we document the nuances, we identify more challenges that deepen inequalities. For example, UNESCO data for 16 countries show that in 2022-2023, 88% of children under 3 and 30% of preschool-aged children remain out of childcare services.

Moreover, children who do attend care centers do not always receive adequate quality care: there is room for improvement in promoting warm, stimulating and developmentally supportive interactions between children and their caregivers. In the most vulnerable households, 9 out of 10 children have fewer than 3 children’s books and half do not play regularly with their parents—key activities for language, cognitive and socioemotional development—according to UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and the National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT) in Ecuador and Mexico.

When not all children have access to the same opportunities, inequalities begin very early in life and widen over time. For example, at age 5, the children of mothers with primary education have a language level equivalent to that of the 3.5 year-old children of mothers with a higher level of education, on average. That is why investing in quality and well-targeted Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs has one of the highest returns among social programs: up to 13.7% annual return per dollar invested. Moreover, as The Lancet recently published, not investing has a very high cost, which is equivalent to an average to 1.6% of GDP for the region.

For the past 15 years, we at the IDB have been working to expand quality ECD programs (in centers and with families), evaluate their impact and invest in measuring the development and quality of services.

What Are the Six Key Areas for Supporting Early Childhood?

We live in an ever-changing environment, with internal displacement and increasingly intense migratory flows, undeniable consequences of climate change, and urgent concerns about mental health problems in children and caregivers. These challenges impact the lives of children in the region, especially the most vulnerable, and deepen inequalities.

As environments evolve, so must our efforts. The IDB’s agenda for the coming years focuses on six key areas:

1. Migration: Addressing gaps in data and evaluations to ensure migrant children receive services that meet their needs.
2. Child Mental Health: Quantifying the issue and designing cost-effective, play-based interventions.
3. Climate Change and Adaptive Social Protection: Developing protocols to ensure emergency service continuity.
4. Intersectorality and Governance: Strengthening institutions to collaborate effectively using interoperable information systems.
5. High-Quality ECD Programs: Expanding services contextualized and adapted to diverse realities.
6. Evidence: Generating knowledge through measurement and evaluation to guide efforts and interventions.

This November 20, the IDB renewed its commitment to early childhood: staying at the forefront of knowledge and programmatic action to tackle the challenges facing children today in collaboration with regional governments. You can watch the full event here:

Learn more about our sector framework on early childhood development and download the infographic with a look at the IDB’s work agenda. 

How are you working in your country to address the challenges affecting children? Tell us in the comments section below!