Let’s put early childhood development at the heart of the UN post-2015 development agenda!

• ISSA encourages all its members and partners to sign the petition led by British politician Dame Tessa Jowell MP to champion an integrated approach to early childhood development for every child in every country.
• Your support is crucial! More than 8000 people have signed it already but still 2000 are needed to get the petition presented at the UN Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals in June.

The evidence proves that the biggest difference in a child’s life can be made by investing at the earliest years. However, its implementation is still far from being universal, as British Member of Parliament Tessa Jowell confirmed after a visit to Malawi last July. “It reinforced my conviction in the principles that an integrated approach to early childhood development would bring practical benefits to the poorest children and their families in all countries”, states Jowell in her petition at Change.org. As a result, throughout the past months, people from all over the world have joined this global initiative of petitioning the United Nations to consider early childhood development as a new goal for its post 2015 development framework. Besides the UK, countries like Turkey, Australia, United States, India, Canada, Kenya, Bangladesh and Korea have gathered thousands of signatures. Central Asia and Eastern European countries are the least represented ones. Altogether, countries from ISSA members only count up to a couple of hundred signatures. Therefore, we strongly encourage all our members and partners to sign the petition and join this worldwide initiative. It is time to make early childhood development a global issue and to make the voice of our region heard on this issue! ISSA urges its members and partners to mobilize their network in the country, and to translate the petition if necessary, when disseminating information. If the 10.000 signatures are reached, the petition will be presented at the coming sessions of the UN Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals in June. This would mean that a global approach to early childhood development could become a new millennium goal for the coming years. A great opportunity that we must not miss! Sign the petition now by clicking here. You may download it in Russian, French and Spanish here. ISSA is a vibrant network that connects professionals and non-profit organizations working in the field of early childhood development. Established in the Netherlands in 1999, ISSA’s community today stretches across the globe with its more than 50 members primarily located in Europe and Central Asia. Building upon the Step by Step Program initiated by the Open Society Foundations in 1994, ISSA aims to ensure equal access to quality care and education for all young children from birth to 10 years old. This mission is implemented through three main pillars of action: equal access for all children; promoting high-quality and professionalism in early years services and empowering parents and communities to be part of the children’s development and learning. For more information on the post-2015 petition, please contact Alejandra Mahiques at amahiques@issa.nl. http://www.issa.nl/sites/default/files/Post-2015%20petition.pdf