To mark Education for All Global Action Week, the Global Campaign for Education is launching a report today that considers early childhood care and education – the focus of the week – from the point of view of human rights.

The report, Rights from the start, argues that early childhood care and education is commonly misunderstood as merely a tool to increase human capital and economic development. This can overshadow the right every person has to care and education in their early years – a right that is currently denied to 200 million children. As we point out in the policy paper we released for Global Action Week, most children still do not go to pre-school, and the children who miss out are those who need it the most.

The report from the Global Campaign for Education calls on governments to commit to care and education for all young children, without discrimination, ensuring that teachers are trained and supported and that investment is increased. It also calls on donor governments to honour their commitments to support countries to achieve Education for All.