About this session

Thursday, 1:40 PM - 3:10 PM

Opportunity Gaps in Early Childhood Development: Global Evidence and Policy Implications

Early childhood development (ECD) has received substantial attention in the last two decades with increasing global evidence and policy reports. It is estimated that 250 million children living in low- and middle-income countries are unable to meet their developmental potential in the first five years of life due to biological, economic, and psychosocial risk factors with inequity of opportunities for young children observed within and between populations. In this panel, we examine the current state of the global evidence on the opportunities for and care provided to young children in a comprehensive, multisectoral, and multilevel life-course perspective. The first two papers, from a recent Lancet series, focus on the next 1,000 days of life, which marks a significant growth of skills and provides a sensitive window of opportunity to promote development. Paper 1 describes the significance of the next 1,000 days in the life course, the environments that shape young children’s development, and the inputs of nurturing care young children receive globally. Paper 2 highlights key strategies for supporting children’s development in the next 1,000 days as well as the cost of inaction. In parallel, the third paper focuses on the National Academies report “Exploring the Opportunity Gap for Young Children from Birth to Age Eight” with a focus on the U.S. It highlights critical evidence on the inequity of opportunity for young children growing up in the United States, and discuss policy, practice and research priorities.

Paper #1
Title	The next 1,000 days: Building early investments for the health and development of young children
Presenting author	Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Draper, Ph.D., SAMRC Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, South Africa

Paper #2
Title	The cost of not investing in the next 1000 days: implications for policy and practice
Presenting author	Dr. Milagros Nores, Ph.D., NIEER, Rutgers University, United States

Paper #3
Title	Closing the Opportunity Gap for Young Children, A National Academies Report
Presenting author	Cynthia A. Osborne, Ph.D., Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, Peabody College of Education and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, United States

View all paper details

Session chair
Dr. Dana Charles McCoy, Ph.D., Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, United States

Discussant
Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Ph.D., NYU, United States

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