The State of the World's Children

The Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015) made no mention of Early Childhood Development except for infant mortality and maternal mortality, which the world has made good progress on. But children have the right to thrive beyond initial survival. Evidence from neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, economics, and other fields has shown the high rates of return to society from investing in ECD, leading to its inclusion in the SDGs in SDGs 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 11, and 16. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is another international framework helping to define the state of the child and what can be done to support children; it was ratified by the United Nations in 1989 and it set the basic rights for children, requiring governments to act based on the best interest of the child, including the right to life, survival, and healthy development.

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