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Newsletter on childhood and adolescence
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ISSN electronic version 1816-7535
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A focus on early childhood is crucial for any inclusive social development strategy. Notwithstanding legislative and scientific progress and new child-oriented social agendas and policies, children aged between 0 and 8 continue to be disproportionately affected by poverty and vulnerability. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic exacerbated inequalities and has created urgent new needs in what was already a vulnerable context for a population that is at a developmentally critical stage of life. The consequences for the economy, care and education services, food insecurity, maternal mortality and immunization rates have had a direct impact on their well-being. Nearly four years on from the first case of COVID-19 in the region, it is vital to focus efforts on comprehensive early childhood development. This is an important and urgent agenda. Its importance lies in the fact that investment in this critical period of life is the best step that can be taken to prepare for a society’s future. The urgency derives from the risk that failure to act now may result in irreversible structural damage to the dynamics of intergenerational solidarity.
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© UNICEF/UN0772676/Izquierdo
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Raquel Santos-Garcia
Social Affairs Officer of ECLAC
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The evidence is that children in early childhood years (aged 0 to 8), having spent at least half their lives in a context of health emergency, will face severe consequences for their development and learning opportunities. This crisis has had a devastating impact on multiple aspects of children’s lives. First, many have experienced the loss of parents, caregivers and loved ones, as well as contracting the disease themselves and being left with the after-effects. The economic crisis has also led to a sharp increase in poverty in many households, which has affected children’s quality of life. Lastly, and more broadly, the lockdowns and other restrictions applied to contain the pandemic affected children’s ability to attend educational institutions, socialize with peers and family members they did not reside with and receive the health care they were entitled to.
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© UNICEF COSTA RICA/2021/REDCUDI
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The evidence shows that play is essential to early childhood development. In recent years, however, the time and space devoted to play have declined (Milteer and Ginsburg, 2012; Liu and others, 2017). Increasingly urbanized communities, unsafe public spaces, the convenient availability of electronic equipment and consequent overuse of screens, packed schedules of afterschool activities: these are some of the factors that explain why many parents say their children are playing less than they did when they were children themselves.
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Today, despite a growing consensus that a healthy environment is crucial for ensuring people’s rights and well-being, the destruction of ecosystems, pollution and contamination remain serious problems. The climate emergency is now coming up against critical limits of the Earth’s natural system which, if exceeded, could have drastic and irreversible consequences for the natural balance on which human civilization depends. Any damage caused by environmental degradation in children’s early years can lead to their missing out on opportunities for a fulfilling life.
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Participatory parenting that is committed to child development has a positive impact on the lives of children and women. Although Latin American States have launched initiatives that deserve to be highlighted for their contribution to the consolidation of greater parental co-responsibility, there are still major barriers to the equitable distribution of care in the upbringing of small children.
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The country profiles aim to compile the data available for country and cross-country monitoring in one place and to provide a baseline for monitoring progress in this area.
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This article presents evidence-based good practices for building conceptual and normative frameworks in ECCE.
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This programme aims to support local governments in the design and implementation of territorial management models that pursue the comprehensive protection of children in public policies.
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Children aged 3 to 5 shared their perceptions and opinions in the consultation held by the National Electoral Institute of Mexico. The results of their involvement were disaggregated by sex, age, Indigenous population, Afrodescendent population and disability status, among other criteria.
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View the complete Challenges Newsletter collection
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© Copyright 2023 ECLAC - United Nations. All Rights Reserved.
Av. Dag Hammarskjöld 3477 - Vitacura - RM 7630412 - Santiago de Chile
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