The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) launched a campaign, which should draw attention to the importance of early childhood development. The initiative was supported by LEGO Foundation. Its authors remind that during this critical period a child needs care, good nutrition, love, protection from stress and violence.
In the first thousand days after birth, the child’s brain develops at an unprecedented rate – every second there are about a thousand new connections. These largely provide the capabilities of the child’s thinking apparatus in the later years of life.
About 250 million children in developing countries are born into families living below the poverty line. Through a campaign with the hashtags #EatPlayLove (eat, play and love) and #EarlyMomentsMatter (early development matters), UNICEF urges governments to invest in early childhood development.