Publications

Chile and Mexico reacted to the crisis by implementing several policy responses, they achieved different outcomes. In particular, the Chilean economy recovered faster than the Mexican one. However, the main differences are related to social outcomes. On one hand, the Gini coefficient decreased in both countries. On the other hand, both overall and child poverty dropped in Chile while they rose sharply in Mexico. , Chile introduced a stimulus package twice as large the Mexican one. When the financial crisis arrived in late 2008 - Chile and Mexico started from different positions, they generated a different public effort, which in turn led to different economic and social results.

Las investigaciones recogidas en cientos de estudios demuestran los beneficios que proporcionan la educación y los cuidados de calidad durante la primera infancia para el aprendizaje posterior del niño, su éxito escolar y su desarrollo social. Habiendo reconocido el valor de ofrecer oportunidades educativas al niño desde los primeros momentos de su vida, muchos países han extendido la educación y los cuidados a la primera infancia durante los últimos años. México consituye un caso interesante, en el que durante los últimos cinco años se han extendido la educación y los cuidados a la primera infancia, así como las iniciativas encaminadas a mejorar la calidad y a reformar el currículo nacional de los preescolares. Este documento examina tres iniciativas de política educativa que se llevaron a cabo en México entre 2000 y 2006: la expansión de la educación preescolar, la mejora de la calidad y la reforma curricular.

This Innocenti Digest on 'Promoting the Rights of Children with Disabilities' examines the situation of approximately 200 million children with disabilities around the world and identifies ways to support the realization of their rights. Children with disabilities constantly face barriers to the enjoyment of their rights and inclusion in society. But the tide is changing, as many countries have begun to reform their laws and structures in the past two decades to promote the participation of children with disabilities as full members of society. The Digest promotes such participation, and discusses all aspects of their development, including access to education, health services and rehabilitation, social and legal assistance, play and cultural activities, vocational and life-skills training. It focuses on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which, building on the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, opens a new era in securing the rights of children with disabilities.

An accumulation of research across hundreds of studies shows the benefits of quality early childhood care and education for children’s later learning, school success and social development. In recognition of the value of providing early learning opportunities, many nations have expanded early childhood care and education in recent years. Mexico provides an interesting case in which expansion of early childhood care and education has occurred in the past 5 years, as have initiatives to improve quality and revise the national curriculum for pre-schoolers. This paper examines three policy initiatives that occurred in Mexico between 2000 and 2006 - preschool expansion, quality improvement and curricular reform. The preschool expansion included a mandate for all parents in Mexico to send their preschool-aged children (3, 4 and 5 years old) to preschool, with target dates of 2004, 2005 and 2008 for 100 per cent coverage of 5-year-olds, 4-year-olds and 3-year-olds, respectively. The quality improvement initiative was part of a larger programme providing supplemental funds to select preschools and schools in Mexico’s public education system. Finally, the curricular reform instituted a new preschool curriculum to be implemented nationwide for all programmes across the 3- to 5-year-old age range.

This paper is the product of the authors’ detailed study of food intervention programmes in nine countries. It identifies the imperfections common to all such schemes, finding that most can be brought under two headings - the ‘two errors’ of the title. These mistakes involve excess coverage - food aid is misdirected and reaches a non-priority population - and are characterised by a failure in the prime objective of the intervention. Having made the diagnosis, the authors go on to discuss possible remedies, highlighting areas in which improvements might be made to the structure of food initiatives. It is hoped that this document will be of value to all those working to ensure that food aid gets to the people who need it most.