At the G20 summit in Argentina, the participating worlds’ leading economies agreed to prioritising Early Childhood Development.

The G20 Leaders' Declaration states:

"We launch the G20 Initiative for Early Childhood Development and stand ready to join all stakeholders in enhancing quality and sustainably financed early childhood programs that consider the multidimensional approach of ECD as means of building human capital to break the cycle of intergenerational and structural poverty, and of reducing inequalities, specially where young children are most vulnerable."

As highlighted in the document Investing in Early Childhood Development, co-authored by the World Bank Group, the Inter-American Development Bank, and UNICEF for the G20 Development Working Group (DWG):

"Early childhood is a critical time for individual growth. This short period is unique because of the unparalleled speed at which brain architecture develops. The experiences in the first few years of life have serious, long-lasting consequences for every child’s future health, learning, and earnings potential, thus laying the foundation not only for human capital development but, indirectly, for societies and their sustainable development."