Global Action Week 2012: Early childhood care and education

Each year during Global Action Week, the Global Campaign for Education and its members around the world including ACCESS give profile to one of the core areas of the Education For All agenda. This year, early childhood care and education is the focus of the campaign (April 22-28, 2012). Every year, over 200 million children under the age of five in low and middle-income countries will not attain their development potential due to poverty, nutritional deficiencies and inadequate care and learning opportunities. Most of these children live in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Due to this poor start in life, if they get the chance to go to school, they are likely to underachieve. Subsequently, they will perpetuate the cycle of poverty, with low income jobs as adults, likely to have children themselves at a very early age, and provide poor health care, nutrition and stimulation to another generation.

Every child has the right to education, and these rights start from birth. By ignoring the right to education, millions more children will be condemned to the same fate.

Why is it important to campaign for early childhood care and education?

All children are rights bearers - they are entitled to the right to education, among other rights, and States are responsible for this delivery. It is one of the most neglected Education For All goals and, through continued neglect, it is unlikely that EFA will be achieved by 2015. Education empowers people, strengthens democracies and economies, enables people to protect themselves and their families from HIV and illness and to become the person they wish to become. Without a sound basis from the start, children have less chance of succeeding in school and are more likely to be in low-paid jobs as adults. This perpetuates the cycle of poverty. By campaigning for ECCE we can break this and work towards an end to aid dependency.

The Global Campaign for Education is calling on world leaders to keep their promises and ensure early childhood care and education for every child – right from the start.

Join ACCESS in supporting this campaign at globalactionweek.org.

As part of Global Action Week, ACCESS is hosting the Youth Making a Difference Conference on April 26 in Mississauga, Ontario. Details are available at YMAD.ca.

Donations towards education can be made to ACCESS online here.