The Global Children's Initiative was founded in 2006 with the goal of helping children reach their full potential and engage in responsible and productive citizenship. Recently, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) held a "Global Gathering" in Moscow which put the spotlight on early childhood issues. This gathering was held September 27-29, 2010 where they discussed the progress of nations meeting their Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for 2015. These goals are eight anti-poverty goals including universal education for all children. The hope is by 2015, every child will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. (United Nations website).
Dr. Jack Shonkoff, Director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University was the key note speaker at the gathering and discussed the "brain science" behind early childhood development, similar to what we discussed last week in class. Also discussed were policy challenges, innovative strategies, and integrative across sectors. The goal of this conference was to initiate action by UNESCO member states by showing that early childhood education and care is the foundation for the development of children. This gathering gives off the impression that leaders around the world are beginning to understand the importance of the early childhood years and the affect these years can have on the rest of someone's life.
Something else I found interesting on the Global Children's Initiative website was information about a program in place in Santiago, Chile. Un Buen Comienzo, "A Good Start", is a collaborative project to improve early childhood education through teacher professional development. The goal is to improve quality education in language development from four to six year olds. This project also aims to intervene in critical health care issues that improve school attendance and familial involvement. The project began in 2007 and has received funding from Harvard University's Center on the Developing Child.
This is a wonderful website with inspiring information about changes taking place around the globe. I will be checking back often for updates.
Resources:
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/education.shtml
I learned a lot about Global Children Initiative through your blog. Universal education for all children is something that I think children should have a right to. I hope that the message of early care and education will be really taken seroiusly and see the benefits it has on children in the long run.
ReplyDeleteCandace,
ReplyDeleteYou provided a weatlh of information in regards to the Global Chioldhren Initiative. I feel that this website is a great resource and I would love to share this link with my co-workers and families that we serve in our community. This website would also serve as an invaluable resource for the staff to learn more about different cultures and ways that teachers benifit from these helpful initiatives.