Argentina: Centers For Early Childhood, Education for Development in Buenos Aires

Centers for early Childhood, Education for Development is a joint project between ALAS and the Government of the City of Buenos Aires directed to assist the neighborhoods that have the highest levels of poverty. It consists of the selection of existing nurseries and community dining halls in the neighborhoods of Villa Soldati, Bajo Flores, Villa Lugano, La Boca, Villa 21-24, Barracas and Parque Avellaneda, in order to be recycled, equipped and turned into Centers for Early Childhood that guarantee the healthy development of girls and boys from 45 days to 4 years old who are in a vulnerable situation. This project seeks to reach a total of 1.200 girls and boys, and to broaden in a 20% the educational coverage for children under five years old that live in the southern area of the city.

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Brazil: Partnership for Early Childhood Developmen with the Federal Government

The Brazilian government together with ALAS Foundation and the Xuxa Meneghel Foundation have joined forces in a partnership to support early childhood. This partnership, proposed in March of this year by the President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff and Shakira, includes, among other things, action plans to increase access in quality education, health and nutrition in this country.

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Colombia: Primero lo Primero (First Things First) Alliance

As part of the Cero a Siempre (Zero to Always) national strategy, Primero lo Primero (First Things First) is a public-private partnership to build, equip and operate 13 new early childhood development centers in different regions of Colombia, which will be serving over 5,920 children. This initiative was born thanks to the significant contributions of the Ministry of Education and the ICBF and commitment of the Mario Santo Domingo Foundation- FMSD-, the ALAS Foundation,  the Barefoot Foundation and aeioTu – Carulla Foundation and 30 public and private institutions.

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Mexico: Integrated Early Childhood Development Centers (CIPIs) in Quintana Roo

Led by the Government of Quintana Roo, this program has the commitment of Governor Roberto Borge and First Lady Mariana Zorrilla de Borge. The objective is to increase access and quality ECD services for children between 0-6 years of age in the state by building 10 ECD centers and implementing trainings for teachers and public administrators.

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Initiatives

The ALAS-IDB Award for excellence in Early Childhood Development

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), together with the ALAS Foundation, have joined forces to establish the ALAS-IDB awards to recognize innovation and excellence in ECD programs that benefit children under six years in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the context of the Summit of the Americas IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno, and the founder of ALAS, Shakira, presented the awards to the first winners of the competition in Cartagena, Colombia in April 2012.

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The Early Childhood Development Initiative: an Investment for Life (2010-2011)

ALAS, as a founding member of the ECD Secretariat for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the World Bank partnered to launch the ECD Initiative: an Investment for Life, which seeks to mobilize opinion, policies, and resources in the region, as a cost-effective way to fight inequality and improve opportunities for its citizens. During the next three years The Early Childhood Initiative will provide US$300 million in new funding and technical support to help countries create Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs in Latin America and the Caribbean. The initiative, together with the ECD Secretariat for Latin America and the Caribbean, will present new policy options to the Millennium Development Goals Summit 2010 (scheduled for September) and the XX Ibero-American Summit, which will take place in Argentina later this year
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Documents:
The Promise of Early Childhood Development in Latin America and the Caribbean