Sarandon, an Oscar-winning actor and longtime political activist, was speaking Thursday at the launch of UNICEF’s flagship report “The State of the World’s Children 2001.” Its central message: that governments around the world must do more to promote the development of children under the age of three.
The annual survey includes the agency’s customary snapshot of living conditions for the youngest members of society in different parts of the world. It reports, for example, that nearly 11 million children die every year from preventable diseases, that 170 million are malnourished and that more than 100 million never go to school.
This year’s report, however, also underscores a new trend. Buoyed by the fast-growing body of research showing that critical brain development takes place within the first 36 months of a child’s life, international organizations like UNICEF and the World Bank are increasingly promoting and funding programs for early childhood development. “There really is an evolution,” UNICEF executive director Carol Bellamy said at the New York launch. “I think early childhood development will focus more [prominently] in our experience in the future than it has in the past.”
Bellamy described it as “the greatest tragedy” that many decision-makers did not understand the importance of a child’s first three years. “What happens to children in the earliest years of their lives is absolutely crucial,” she said. “Not only for the children themselves but for all of us.”
According to UNICEF, it would cost $80 billion a year to give every newborn a good start in life. That investment eventually would pay dividends, says the report, because studies show that children who attend preschool and day care are less likely to suffer education and health problems later in life.
One case in point: Brazil. A study cited in the report showed that poor Brazilian girls who had attended preschool were twice as likely to reach fifth grade and three times as likely to reach eighth grade as girls who did not. In addition, 40 percent of poor boys who attended preschool finished elementary school, compared to 2 percent of boys who had not received early educational programs. “Choosing not to provide the earliest care for all children is the costliest mistake of all,” notes the report. “For every $1 invested in the physical and cognitive development of babies and toddlers, there is a $7 return, mainly from cost saving in the future.”
There is no single blueprint for effective early childhood programs. Sweden–widely regarded as having one of the world’s most advanced childcare systems–boasts a well-funded and regulated daycare system that cares for almost half of the country’s children from birth until six. In the United States, the nationwide Head Start program has provided preschool developmental services to almost 18 million children during the past 35 years.
Less-prosperous countries have devised other schemes to maximize their scarcer resources. In Sri Lanka, for example, respected local women spend time in local homes teaching parents how to help their infants develop mentally. In Cuba, the UNICEF-backed Educate Your Child program includes having trained counselors take families with pre-school children on weekly group field trips to parks and cultural centers.
In spite of these examples, says the report, world leaders have not made a general commitment to early intervention. Why? In part, says Bellamy, because it can take a generation for the benefits of these programs to be seen–and leaders often don’t know where to look.
UNICEF plans to continue promoting services for the very young at the U.N. General Assembly’s special session on children planned for next September in New York. It has also called on the services of celebrities to raise the profile of its continuing fight for children’s rights. Sarandon says she will use the public’s interest in celebrities to promote her cause. “The real significance of my visit [to India] is to let the people know the world is watching. “This is something that I had really underestimated.”
