Investing in Young Children. World Bank Discussion Papers No. 275 Mary Eming Young.

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Designed primarily for World Bank staff and their colleagues in borrowing countries, this paper summarizes why investment in human capital formation through early child development is worthwhile. Chapter 1 introduces the importance of early childhood programs, noting events that have given new visibility to children's issues at the international level. Chapter 2 presents scientific support, socioeconomic reasons, the intersecting needs of women and children, and the synergistic effects of health, nutrition, and stimulation on early childhood development, as rationale for investment in early childhood care and development. Chapter 3 seeks to determine which early childhood programs provide the most reliable outcomes, given the resource constraints of a developing country. It examines program options and programming experiences with projects both inside and outside the purview of the World Bank. Chapter 4 reviews the essential minimum inputs and approaches to packaging such projects. Policy formation and targeting at-risk populations are considered key elements in any early child development strategy. The next chapter suggests three kinds of actions that the World Bank can take: (1) undertake more projects on integrated early child development; (2) support sector work and policy dialogue to assess needs of integrated child services; and (3) fund research and evaluation. The concluding chapter notes that the Bank should increase its lending for early child development investments. The report's three appendices include evidence from developed and developing countries that supports the case for early childhood care, a summary of Bank-financed projects, and examples of projects packaged with different design approaches. (BAC)

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