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Early Childhood Development

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Commentary on The Lancet Series 2007 and 2011
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Commentary on The Lancet Series 2007 and 2011

Patrice Engle and Chloe O'Gara for the Global Child Development Group

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The Pakistan Early Child Development Scale-Up Trial- Learning Lessons for Integrating Quality ECD Interventions in Community Health Services
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The Pakistan Early Child Development Scale-Up Trial- Learning Lessons for Integrating Quality ECD Interventions in Community Health Services

The Lancet series on ‘Child Development in Developing Countries’ in 2007 reported that internationally at least 200 million children were not meeting their development potential in the first 5 years of life. A key recommendation from this series was to integrate early child development (ECD) interventions in existing health, nutrition, education, and child protection services in order to reach the large numbers of children at risk of poor development. However; data to inform taking ECD interventions to scale is limited. Operational research is urgently needed in order to provide evidence based models and guidelines to help practitioners better plan, integrate, train, supervise, monitor, and scale up of effective ECD interventions. The Pakistan Early Child Development Scale Up (PEDS) Trial [Protocol ID: NCT00715936, www.clinicaltrials.gov] is designed to respond to some of the knowledge gaps through examining integration of ECD interventions in an existing community health service:

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Exclusive Interview: Professor James Heckman
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Exclusive Interview: Professor James Heckman

In this wide-ranging interview, Nobel Laureate Professor James Heckman explains why early childhood development must feature prominently on the global development agenda, now. In doing so Professor Heckman calls for a radical change in how governments and policy makers view human development. Supporting his message
Child Development in Developing Countries 2
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Child Development in Developing Countries 2

Four years after the Lancet published a first Series on early child development, the challenge of supporting 200 million children under five years to reach their developmental potential remains.
Early childhood development:global action is overdue
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Early childhood development:global action is overdue

UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake says the world has an exceptional opportunity to redress developmental inequities in early childhood. An opportunity we must not miss.
Should new research on under-fives reshape our approach to development?
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Should new research on under-fives reshape our approach to development?

Read IRC's Director's take in The Guardian
The science on the value and impact of early childhood development is in. And it is utterly compelling.
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The science on the value and impact of early childhood development is in. And it is utterly compelling.

Right now the world has an unprecedented opportunity to address inequities for young children. We have to ask ourselves what we must do and how we should do it in the best possible way to ensure all children get the right start.