Peer-reviewed article
Global development assistance for early childhood care and education in 134 low- and middle-income countries, 2007–2021
Yiqun Luan, Dominic Hodgkin, Jere Richard Behrman, Alan L. Stein, Linda Richter et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study analysed global development assistance for early childhood care and education (ECCE) across 134 low- and middle-income countries from 2007 to 2021. Between 2007 and 2021, international donors provided US$3.6 billion for ECCE, but this represented only 1.7% of total education aid, falling far short of the recommended 10% minimum. Low-income countries and conflict-affected countries received significantly less aid per child than other countries. The authors recommend increasing ECCE funding allocations and building resilience in ECCE programmes for future crises.
Key points
- ECCE aid totaled US$3.6 billion (lower-bound estimate) over 15 years, with the World Bank providing 53.3% of total ECCE aid
- ECCE aid represented only 1.7% of total education aid, falling far short of UNICEF's suggested 10% minimum
- Low-income countries received US$0.6 per child in 2021, down from US$0.8 in 2020
- Conflict-affected countries received an average of US$0.3 per child, a quarter of the aid received by non-conflict-affected countries (US$1.2 per child)
- Funding for ECCE projects with COVID-19 activities decreased from US$50 million in 2020 to US$37 million in 2021
Limitations
The study relies on keyword-searching and funding-allocation methods to estimate ECCE aid, which may under- or over-count actual ECCE assistance. The analysis cannot explain why donor priorities diverge from UNICEF recommendations or the quality and effectiveness of the aid allocated.
Abstract
Introduction Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) often dedicate limited domestic funds to expand quality early childhood care and education (ECCE), making complementary international donor support potentially important. However, research on the allocation of international development assistance for ECCE has been limited. Methods We analysed data from the Creditor Reporting System on aid projects to assess global development assistance for ECCE in 134 LMICs from 2007 to 2021. By employing keyword-searching and funding-allocation methods, we derived two estimates of ECCE aid: a lower-bound estimate comprising projects primarily focusing on ECCE and an upper-bound estimate comprising projects with both primary and partial ECCE focus, as well as those that could benefit ECCE but did not include ECCE keywords. We also assessed aid directed to conflict-affected countries and to ECCE projects integrating COVID-19-related activities. Results Between 2007 and 2021, the lower-bound ECCE aid totaled US$3646 million, comprising 1.7% of the total US$213 279 million allocated to education. The World Bank led in ECCE aid, contributing US$1944 million (53.3% out of total ECCE aid). Low-income countries received less ECCE aid per child before 2016, then started to catch up but experienced a decrease from US$0.8 (2020) per child to US$0.6 (2021) per child. Funding for ECCE projects with COVID-19 activities decreased from a total of US$50 million in 2020 to US$37 million in 2021, representing 11.4% and 6.6% of annual total ECCE aid, respectively. Over 15 years, conflict-affected countries received an average of US$0.3 per child, a quarter of the aid received by non-conflict-affected countries (US$1.2 per child). Conclusion Although ECCE aid increased significantly between 2007 and 2021, its proportion of total educational aid fell short of UNICEF’s suggested 10% minimum. Recommendations include increasing the share of ECCE aid in total educational aid, increasing aid to low-income and conflict-affected countries, and investing more in preparing ECCE programmes for future global crises.