Nursery World - Analysis: The big spender on early childhood

For most developing countries, the World Bank is the agency with the greatest involvement in early childhood provision. But in whose interests is it? Professor Helen Penn takes a critical look.

The biggest spender on early childhood - bigger by far than any corporate company - is the World Bank, with its 2006 investment standing at a colossal US$1.6 billion, up from just US$126m in 1990.

This enormous spending stems from what the Bank sees as its 'holistic' approach to tackling the economic performance of poor countries. Teams of World Bank economists work with governments all over the world, encouraging them to adopt more 'effective' economic policies and arguing, increasingly, that Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes can contribute to their success.

ECD includes child health and nutrition, parenting programmes and community-based care as well as - or instead of - centre-based services. Although its programmes constitute only a fraction of the Bank's overall activities, they nevertheless make the World Bank the major player in early childhood for most developing countries.

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