WASHINGTON, D.C. February 22, 2010—Grammy Award-winning artist Shakira and World Bank President Robert Zoellick today launched a groundbreaking $US 300 million joint initiative aimed at expanding development programs for young children in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“This initiative seeks to mobilize opinion, policies, and resources in the region, as a cost-effective way to fight inequality and improve opportunities for its citizens,” said President Zoellick during a signing ceremony of the partnership agreement between Shakira’s ALAS Foundation, Columbia University’s Earth Institute, and the World Bank, held at the Bank’s Washington, D.C. headquarters.
Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs provide children with adequate nutrition, healthcare, and stimulating environments from the moment of conception through age 6—a period of development crucial for achieving a child’s full potential. The initiative will help expand ECD programs in a region where 9 million children under 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition and 22 million lack access to early basic care.
“If we want to build a better world, we have to give children the chance to improve their lives, no matter where they are born or how difficult their circumstances. By giving every child a fair start in life, we are improving our collective future,” Shakira told the an audience of 100 VIPs, including Latin American and Caribbean ambassadors and officials from the education sector, along with representatives from other international organizations.
The Colombian artist is a leading activist for children and the founder of ALAS, a coalition of Latin American artists and business leaders advocating for comprehensive ECD programs.
“We look forward to working closely with ALAS and the Earth Institute in the months and years to come as we move this important agenda forward. ALAS—Shakira in particular—have made an enormous contribution toward placing young children at the heart of the public policy discourse in Latin America,” said Zoellick.
Zoellick and Shakira explained that ECD programs are among the most effective—and cost-effective—development inverventions. Children who participate in ECD programs demonstrate improved health and academic outcomes, while showing higher productivity and income in later years. Conversely, delays in early childhood interventions are difficult and costly to reverse later in life, as the Bank’s recent publication The Promise for Early Childhood Development in Latin America illustrates.
Citing Haiti’s emergency response as a timely example of working with partners, Zoellick said that ECD initiatives will play a critical role in Haiti’s reconstruction, where attention will be placed on rebuilding not only the country’s infrastructure, but also the potential of its people. He stressed the importance of partnering with organizations including UNICEF, UNESCO, and the World Food Program to provide urgent relief to the Haitian children and mitigate the long-term impact of the January 12 earthquake on a generation of young Haitians.
One of the initiative’s first programs will be a partnership with Mexico’s state agency CONAFE to provide training for parents and caregivers to improve their competencies and practices in caring for children 0-4. The initiative will focus on the poorest 172 municipalities in Mexico, located primarily in its southern states.
In addition to providing loans and grants to participating countries, the initiative will work with the ECD Secretariat for Latin America and the Caribbean, a project of ALAS, the Earth Institute, and the governments of Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Panama, Paraguay and Argentina, to develop best practices and identify promising pilot projects for children under 6. This work will be presented at the UN’s Millennium Development Goals Summit in September and the XX Ibero-American Summit of the regional Heads of State in November in Mar del Plata, Argentina.
Over the last 20 years, the World Bank has been helping governments from over 50 countries invest in ECD. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the Bank has financed more than 30 projects, totaling over US$1billion. At present, private and public investments range from less than 1 percent to roughly 12 percent of the total educational expenditures of countries in the region, according to World Bank estimates.
