How I realised the importance of investing in early childhood

I am a businessman and member of Peru 2021, a non-profit civil association led by socially committed entrepreneurs to promote corporate social responsibility. A growing number of businesses in Peru are funding social projects and committing to build a more sustainable society. However, most of their investment is focused on helping young adults rather than very young children.

My wife, an early childhood teacher, started to work on a project funded by The Bernard van Leer Foundation. One day she invited me to a meeting with Leonardo Yánez, the Foundation’s representative for Latin America, to talk about the business case for investing in early childhood development. It was the first time I had been asked to make the connection between my own business sense and my wife’s work, and looking back I must have come off as completely ignorant. At the end of the meeting Leonardo told me he was going to invite me to the Ready Nation Early Childhood Investments Summit.

Can Children Transform Society? A five day’s journey through Children’s Participation

Can Children Transform Society?  A five day’s journey through Children’s Participation

Advocates have spent many years promoting children’s participation, but good practice remains fragmented. We need to create a community of practice to consolidate and share lessons about rights-based participation in children’s lives.

That was the thinking behind the first Annual International Conference on “Children as Actors for Transforming Society”, held last month in Caux, Switzerland. I joined the delegation from our Peruvian partner INFANT (Instituto de Formación de Niños y Adolescentes Trabajadores), which consisted of the director and project coordinator, and three incredible children: Flor de María, Ana Valeria and Franz, aged 14, 11 and 11 respectively.

Other delegations of adults and children aged from 4 to 17 came from France, Germany, United Kingdom, Nicaragua, Argentina, Peru, Lebanon, Cyprus, the Netherlands and  Bulgaria. Children not only participated in the five-day conference, which was organised by Initiatives of Change in partnership with the Child to Child Trust, they also helped to organise some of the sessions.

Pedagogy of Tenderness – stories from Peru

I had heard Mike talk a lot about Infant and the children in Iquitos and wanted to visit them someday. I was thrilled when I was told that I would be going to Peru. I had never stayed up in the air for 26 hours at a stretch (that was the flying time to Lima from New Delhi) and travelled nearly two days to reach my destination. Landing in Iquitos reminded me of home- same topography and similar facial features. The Iquitos visit was in two parts- i) Infant and ii) Visit to Loreto province’s Nauta and Parinari municipalities ( situated in the Amazonian forests).

“International Expert Consultation on Prevention of and Response to Violence against Young Children”

Last week, 67 experts from 20 countries met in Lima, Peru, to discuss how to accelerate progress against violence in the earliest years of a child’s life.

The meeting was convened by the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Violence Against Children, Marta Santos Pais, and hosted by the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  7200 people from more than 15 countries watched the proceedings as they unfolded on the internet.  Among them, a parent looking for advice, a doctor looking for ideas, staff from NGOs and international organizations, and my mother.

Influencing politicians to focus on young children

J. Leonardo Yánez, August 2011

Ollanta Humala’s election July 2011 as the new president of Peru represents the latest step forward in a BvLF-backed campaign to improve opportunities for Peru’s youngest citizens. Over the last three years BvLF has invested nearly a million euros in the Grupo Impulsor “Inversión por la infancia” (GIII), led by a Peruvian communications expert recruited from UNICEF, and we are now seeing results as early childhood rises up the political agenda from local to national level.

Peru’s problem is not that it lacks resources – it has substantial oil and mineral wealth. Rather, the problem is that this wealth has not so far made enough of an impact on the lives of its poorest citizens, notably indigenous groups in rural areas and the nearly half of all city dwellers who have practically no access to basic services. Young children need support if they are to have a chance of escaping poverty and overcoming their disadvantaged start to life.

Village of San Andres, Iquitos, Peru

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Nysha who lives in the village of San Andres frequently takes her bait and tackle and goes fishing next to the river. It is dangerous work since the riverfront is muddy and not developed at all. Daniel helps his family by sitting in front of the small boat used to carry passengers from one side of the river to the other. As the boat approaches to the shabby docks, he guides it by grabbing the edge of the dock while risking crushing his fingers. Nysha is three and Daniel is four years old. While presenting their research findings to us, children from this community repeatedly stressed their right to work in order to contribute to the livelihood of their families.