Investing in Early Childhood: A Smart Choice
Investing in early childhood is essential for optimal brain development, learning, health, and lifelong success. Multi-sectoral interventions play a crucial role in ensuring children receive the care they need. Today, the climate crisis is also a child rights crisis—air pollution severely impacts children’s health and brain development. Urgent, coordinated action is needed to mitigate these negative effects.
Nurturing Care Framework
Cambodia’s National Policy on Early Childhood Care and Development envisions that all Cambodian children—from conception to under six years old, especially those who are disadvantaged—receive essential care and development services, in alignment with the Constitution.
Early intervention programs in childhood care and development help reduce egocentric behaviors, such as:
- Prioritizing oneself over others
- Possessiveness
- Seeking constant attention
- Lack of empathy
- Disobedience and stubbornness
The Nurturing Care Framework highlights:
- The importance of early interventions (from pregnancy to age three) for health, well-being, and human capital development
- Key challenges in early childhood nurturing, education, and development
- Strategies to protect children from negative external factors while promoting physical, mental, social, and intellectual growth
- Support mechanisms for caregivers to ensure effective early childhood care services
This comprehensive approach ensures that children receive the best start in life, laying the foundation for their future success.
