Early_childhood_development

External links

  • Review of Early Childhood Development (ECD) Interventions and Charities in Sub-Saharan Africa

    A brief review was performed to determine whether there is evidence to support early childhood development interventions as a means of improving adult outcomes for people living in extreme poverty in the developing world. The review was performed by two members of the Canadian effective altruism community to advise anonymous donors wishing to help relieve extreme poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on interventions having long-term benefits. The review focused on two categories of interventions: early childhood development interventions that have been reviewed by charity evaluator GiveWell and early childhood interventions with a stimulation or education component (which GiveWell has not reviewed). Based on this review, there are several GiveWell charities in the early childhood development sector that the donors could consider funding, for instance the Against Malaria Foundation and the Malaria Consortium’s Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) program. Meanwhile, psychosocial stimulation interventions and educational television both appear promising. For psychosocial stimulation, there is uncertainty about whether and how programs can be structured to maximize long-term benefits. Meanwhile, the research on educational television shows in developing countries is scarce, but this intervention could represent a way of cost-effectively reaching a large number of children.