Publications

The aim of this publication is to provide a review of the literature and current policies of early childhood education and care in the economically most advanced countries of the world. The introductory chapter provides some basic definitions: what is meant by 'early childhood services' both in the narrow sense of care and education services for young children (family day care, childcare centres, pre-primary educational services, integrated services, etc.) and in the wider sense of services supporting the holistic development of young children. Subsequent chapters address: the rights and well-being of young children; the economic and social context of children's services; state investment in early childhood services. Chapter 2 addresses the question of the rights and well-being of young children. Chapter 3 explores the economic and social context of children's services, and seek to explain the contemporary focus on the upbringing and education of young children. Chapter 4 provides a rationale for substantial state investment in early childhood services. Chapter 5 recalls briefly the promise that participation in high-quality early childhood services holds for the individual child and at a wider level, for society as a whole. A short conclusion proposes a dynamic social market model that brings together the dynamism and choice that market approaches can present with the strong investment, effective control and equity in access that public systems have traditionally offered in several countries.

The paper reflects on the potential of the OECD DAC creditor reporting system to systematically capture flows of official development assistance (ODA) in support of realising children’s rights. The growth in modalities for delivering aid - including sector programmes, SWAP’s, dedicated funds which encompass public-private partnerships such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as well as the OECD-DAC commitment to promote harmonization and simplification in provision of ODA and promote government ownership through general budget support - raises challenges to assessing ODA for children. The question 'Is it meaningful to single out and measure direct assistance to children?' also must be raised. The paper goes on to analyse ODA trends for basic social services. The analysis further confirms that social sector programmes and sector wide approaches (SWAP’s) are on the rise but still account only for a small portion of total ODA to basic social services although a number of such programmes are targeted specifically to basic services.

Within the last decade governments of donors and developing countries have committed themselves to achieving a number of International Development Targets (IDTs) to be reached by 2015. These include halving the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and ensuring universal primary education. While the bulk of the resources for this task will come from the national budgets of developing countries, without additional official development assistance (ODA) the task is daunting for most of the low-income countries. This paper examines the extent to which poverty alleviation through support for basic social services has become part of the official development assistance strategy of donors. It finds an alarming gap between the rethoric of poverty reduction on the one hand, and the feature of ODA, especially to basic services, on the other.

There is a shortfall of up to $80 billion per year between what is spent and what should be spent to ensure universal access to basic social services such as primary health care, basic education and clean water. Drawing on case studies from over 30 developing countries, Basic Services for All? highlights the human cost of this shortfall in terms of lives lost, children out of school, the millions undernourished, and the billions without safe water and sanitation. The report concludes with a Ten Point Agenda for Action - urgently needed measures to close the $80 billion gap.

Il y a un déséquilibre de 80 milliards de dollars par an entre ce qui est dépensé et ce qui devrait l'être pour garantir l'accès universel aux services sociaux de base comme les soins de santé primaire, l'éducation de base et l'eau salubre. S'appuyant sur des enquêtes menées dans plus de 30 pays en développement, Des services de base pour tous? souligne le coût humain de ce déséquilibre en termes de vies perdues, d'enfants non scolarisés, de millions de personnes sous-alimentées, et de milliards d'autres sans eau salubre ni assainissement. Le rapport se termine sur un Programme d'action en dix points, à savoir les mesures à prendre d'urgence pour combler l'écart de 80 milliards de dollars.

Existe un déficit que alcanza los 80 mil millones de dólares por año entre lo que se gasta y lo que se debería gastar para asegurar el acceso universalizado a los servicios sociales básicos, como por ejemplo los cuidados primarios de salud, la educación básica y el suministro de agua potable. Basándose en los estudios prácticos realizados en más de 30 países en desarrollo, ¿Servicios básicos para todos? hace hincapié en el costo humano de este déficit desde el punto de vista del número de vidas perdidas, de los niños que no van a la escuela, de los millones de individuos desnutridos, y de los miles de millones de seres humanos que carecen de agua y saneamiento higiénicamente adecuados. El informe se cierra con un Plan de Acción que consta de diez puntos, diez medidas que es urgente tomar para subsanar este déficit de 80 mil millones de dólares.