Those efforts must begin during the early years.  The first thousand days are the most critical period for brain development, and investing in systems, policies, and services during this time can change the trajectory of a child’s life while providing the bedrock for human capital development and economic growth (Lancet, 2016).  While there is consensus among both educators and economists that investing in early childhood is critical for better learning outcomes and contributes to eradicating poverty, reducing inequalities, ending hunger, ensuring healthy lives, building resilience, and promoting peaceful societies, there is inadequate funding to support young  children and their families during this most important stage (UNICEF, 2023).  This is a missed opportunity, and the cost of inaction is high.

While the Pact for the Future highlights the need to scale up financing, the recognition of the importance and impact of investing in the early years is largely absent.  As global leaders convene at the Summit of the Future to consider what is needed to “accelerate efforts to meet our existing international commitments and take concrete steps to respond to emerging challenges and opportunities,” we urge you to prioritize young children and develop systems, structures, and financing mechanisms that will create pathways for opportunity for all children, leaving no one behind.  

Specifically, we urge you to develop an updated system for cooperation and collaboration that addresses the following barriers:

1. Insufficient public funding: Many governments have not prioritized ECD in their budgets, leading to chronic underfunding of essential services for young children.
2. Donor dependency: In low-income countries, ECD programs often rely heavily on external donors, raising concerns about long-term sustainability.
3. Inequitable distribution: Existing resources are frequently concentrated in urban areas or wealthier communities, exacerbating disparities in early childhood outcomes.
4. Sectoral silos: Financing is often siloed within different government ministries, hindering integrated approaches to ECD.
5. Short-term focus: Funding often prioritizes immediate needs over long-term, sustainable investments in early childhood systems and workforce development.
6. Limited private sector engagement: The potential for private investment and innovative financing mechanisms remains largely untapped in the ECD sector.
7. Weak data systems: Many countries lack robust systems for tracking ECD expenditures and outcomes, making it difficult to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of investments.

Investing in early childhood development lays the foundation for future success and will yield improved outcomes in health, education, and economic development (Black, Behrman, Daelmans, et al, 2021).  In other words, sustainable development starts in the early years.  As such, the Pact for the Future must deliver financing and systems for cooperation that harness the power of this critical moment in every child’s life so we can achieve the promise of the 2030 Agenda.  This is also an important moment for global leaders to prioritize the early years before it is too late and the window for improving the lives of children and their caregivers closes.  Specifically, the undersigned urge the following actions:

• All governments should:
  • Prioritize public financing for ECD services and increase investments, including investing at least 10 percent of education budgets in early childhood care and education
• Donors, including governments, international development banks, philanthropy, and the private sector, should:
  • Increase investments in the early years to
    • Stimulate innovative financing models
    • Facilitate multi-sectoral planning for integrated budgeting 
    • Ensure high quality programs and services
    • Improve the efficiency, coordination, and alignment of financing streams
    • Strengthen data collection and tracking systems for ECD expenditures

The Summit of the Future represents an opportunity to reimagine what tomorrow could look like.  Without new investments and better coordination, tomorrow will be no better than today for young children and our caregivers.  We can, and must, do better.