Peer-reviewed article
Accountability for funds for Nurturing Care: what can we measure?
Leonardo Arregocés-Castillo, Robert C Hughes, Kate Mackinnon Milner, Victoria Ponce Hardy, Cally J Tann et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study analysed international donor funding for early childhood development (ECD) between 2007 and 2016 using the WHO/UNICEF/World Bank Nurturing Care Framework. Researchers found that US$79.1 billion in development assistance was disbursed for ECD, with 78% going to health and nutrition and only 2% for disability. International funding for non-health ECD activities was very low at US$2.3 per child per year. While total ECD funding increased by 121% over the period, it remains small compared to reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health spending, and domestic funding data could not be obtained.
Key points
- US$79.1 billion in development assistance was disbursed for ECD from 2007-2016, with health and nutrition accounting for 78% (US$61.9 billion)
- Disability-related funding was minimal at US$0.7 billion (2% of total)
- Non-health ECD activities received only US$2.3 per child per year in development assistance
- Total ECD development assistance increased 121% between 2007 and 2016, averaging 8.3% annual growth
- Per child disbursements grew more substantially in Africa and Asia than in Latin America, Caribbean and Oceania
Limitations
The study could not locate comparable data on domestic government funding or out-of-pocket expenditure for ECD, limiting the picture of total investment. Inconsistent donor terminology in OECD reporting systems created limitations in data classification and analysis.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Understanding donor, government and out-of-pocket funding for early child development (ECD) is important for tracking progress. We aimed to estimate a baseline for the WHO, UNICEF and World Bank Nurturing Care Framework (NCF) with a special focus on childhood disability. METHODS: To estimate development assistance spending, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's Creditor Reporting System (OECD-CRS) database was searched for 2007-2016, using key words derived from domains of the NCF (good health, nutrition and growth, responsive caregiving, security and safety, and early learning), plus disability. Associated funds were analysed by domain, donor, recipient and region. Trends of ECD/NCF were compared with reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) disbursements. To assess domestic or out-of-pocket expenditure for ECD, we searched electronic databases of indexed and grey literature. RESULTS: US$79.1 billion of development assistance were disbursed, mostly for health and nutrition (US$61.9 billion, 78% of total) and least for disability (US$0.7 billion, 2% of total). US$2.3 per child per year were disbursed for non-health ECD activities. Total development assistance for ECD increased by 121% between 2007 and 2016, an average increase of 8.3% annually. Per child disbursements increased more in Africa and Asia, while minimally in Latin America and the Caribbean and Oceania. We could not find comparable sources for domestic funding and out-of-pocket expenditure. CONCLUSIONS: Estimated international donor disbursements for ECD remain small compared with RMNCH. Limitations include inconsistent donor terminology in OECD data. Increased investment will be required in the poorest countries and for childhood disability to ensure that progress is equitable.