The 2025 Country profiles for ECD are now available in Arabic, French, English, Russian and Spanish. As was the case in 2021 and 2023, each of the 197 country profiles includes 42 indicators to assess and monitor a country's progress towards ensuring young children are able to thrive. The profiles are developed by UNICEF in collaboration with Countdown to 2030 Women’s, Children’s and Adolescent’s Health.
More.
Lancet Series: Early Childhood Development and the Next 1000 Days
This two-part Lancet series on early childhood development focuses on the transition to the ‘next 1,000 days’ of the life course, describing why this developmental period matters, identifying the environments of care, risks, and protective factors that shape children’s development, estimating the number of children who receive adequate nurturing care, and examining whether current interventions are meeting children’s needs. More.
Towards a More Sustainable Future: Addressing Young Children and the Changing Climate
This working paper provides an overview of the risks and potential of early childhood and the changing climate and showcases a dozen innovative approaches where early childhood and climate sectors have successfully converged.
More
Compendium on Respectful Maternal and Newborn Care
This WHO compendium supports efforts to end mistreatment and achieve respectful maternal and newborn care, marking a decade since the WHO's 2014 statement on the prevention of disrespect and abuse during facility-based childbirth. Despite substantial progress in understanding and measuring respectful care large-scale implementation remains limited. Emerging research has highlighted small-scale interventions, but there is still much to learn about the most effective approaches.
• Access the Compendium
• News release
Measurement of ECD in Eastern and Southern Africa
In October 2023, over 140 participants from 18 countries across Eastern and Southern Africa met in Kigali, Rwanda. At the four-day meeting, participants were updated on available measurement tools and indicators that are important for ECD (e.g., GSED, ECDI2030, and AIM-ECD); exchanged experiences measuring ECD at population, programmatic and individual levels; and defined actions to strengthen the measurement agenda at country level.
• Read the report
• More about the event
Moving Minds Alliance Strategy 2025-2030: 'Reimagining early years crisis response'
The Moving Minds Alliance (MMA) has set a powerful vision to change that: advocating for better outcomes, equity, and rights for young children, families and communities affected by crises. This five-year strategy sets three strategic priorities:
Nepal Introduces WHO/UNICEF Care for Child Development Course
"The Government of Nepal is deeply committed to investing in the early years of life, recognizing that nurturing care lays the foundation for a child’s lifelong health, learning and well-being," says Dr Bibek Kumar Lal, Director of Nepal's Family Welfare Division at the Department of Health Services. The Ministry, with support from WHO Country Office for Nepal, has introduced the WHO/UNICEF Care for Child Development course for the first time in the WHO South-East Asia Region.More.
PATH ECD Knowledge Hub
This knowledge hub compiles national documents, assessments, job aids, training materials, and quality improvement tools, developed by PATH in collaboration with government and partners across Eastern and Southern Africa, to support the promotion of nurturing care for early childhood development through existing health and nutrition services. More.
