site.btaAnnual Plan for Promotion of Early Childhood Development for 2024 Is Adopted

The Government adopted an annual plan for the promotion of early childhood development for 2024, which provides an opportunity to implement a comprehensive and integrated approach to childcare and the development of cross-sectoral services to support parents and children in the early childhood period. The document was developed in implementation of a measure of the Governance Programme (June 2023 - December 2024) by an Inter-ministerial Working Group for Planning and Coordination of Early Childhood Development Policies, which included representatives of Education Ministry, the Labour Ministry, the Health Ministry and other institutions, various organizations and professionals with expertise on the subject.

The plan is the first national document focused entirely on promoting early childhood development. Its measures are grouped into 5 impact areas: health and nutrition; early learning, education and early childhood care; child protection, security and safety; social protection and parenting support; and early childhood intervention. These include measures to improve antenatal care and ensure access to health care and services for pregnant and childbearing women; introducing patronage care programmes at national level; providing support to improve early learning and early childhood care; and ensuring sufficient numbers of qualified professionals to work in early childhood education and care services.

There are also activities to support biological families to prevent child abandonment; provide effective social protection for families with young children to reduce child poverty and social exclusion; introduce a national screening programme to monitor the health and development of each child; introduce a system for early childhood intervention and others.