Implementing Child Rights in early childhood - Interactive Panel Discussion

New York, 13 October 2010 - The investment in early childhood was at centre stage in an interactive panel hosted by UNICEF with the support of the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of Barbados, Belgium, Uruguay, and the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, and in collaboration with Plan International, Save the Children, World Vision and America Latina en Accion Solidaria (ALAS).

The panel discussion addressed key child rights dimensions in early childhood, the focus theme for the 2010 General Assembly on the Rights of the Child.

The SRSG debate highlighted the high returns of investing in early childhood and emphasized that protection from violence is also critical for the very youngest age group, as illustrated in the alarming numbers of infant trauma cases and the high cost of treatment associated with incidents of violence, including the shaken baby syndrome. Other child experts, including Yanghee Lee, Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Lisa Jordan, CEO of Bernard Van Leer Foundation, Alicia Marin, Deputy Director of ALAS Foundation and Nicholas Alipui, Director of Pogramme Division in UNICEF.