Early childhood development
For every child, early moments matter
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The Challenges
Early childhood – from conception to age 6 – has a profound impact on a child’s future. When children are loved and cared for in a safe and stimulating environment, they develop the skills they need to embrace opportunity, bounce back from adversity and thrive. The quality of these early experiences makes a critical difference in their brain development and thus their learning, health and behaviour throughout life.
Many children in Thailand lack appropriate care and stimulation in their early years. Too few parents are engaging with their children in a meaningful, responsive and caring way, and many practise violent discipline. Almost one in five children under 4 years live neither with their mother or father.
Children’s nutrition under 5 years is a concern, as rates of stunting, wasting and overweight have worsened in the last five years. Only 14 per cent of infants in Thailand are exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life.
Family-friendly policies such as parental leave and affordable, accessible, quality childcare are also lacking in the workplace, making it hard for parents to bond with their babies in the first few critical years of life.
The Solutions
UNICEF works to ensure the holistic development of all children from birth to 6 years of age – meaning that a child is physically healthy, mentally alert, emotionally sound, socially competent and ready to learn. In the face of COVID-19 disruption to this development, we help children from low-income and migrant families continue their play and learning at home with UNICEF Magic Box sets of books and toys.
UNICEF supports parents, caregivers, teachers and service providers to create a nurturing and inclusive environment for children in their early years of life, especially for the most disadvantaged. We strive to improve access to quality and affordable childcare, early learning opportunities and pre-primary education so that they are ready to start school and reach their full potential. We are also working with health and nutrition services so that nurturing care practices are integrated into their services.
UNICEF generates data and contributes to research on early learning and development to build evidence and inform policy. With the Government, civil society and academia, UNICEF is improving the financing of ECD centres and developing a parenting framework so that families can better support their children’s development.