World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim is currently at the World Economic Forum where he is sharing his vision for investing in early childhood development (ECD) and the economic benefits associated with it:
I’m currently attending the World Economic Forum 2017. It was here just a year ago that we talked about the fast pace of technological change transforming the nature of many jobs and skills needed to compete in the future economy—what Professor Klaus Schwab called “the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
The digital economy of tomorrow places a huge premium on being able to reason, learn, communicate, and collaborate. And the evidence is strong that early childhood experiences have a profound impact on brain development.
Investing in early childhood development (ECD) is not only morally right but also economically smart. We estimate that GDP per capita around the world would be 7 percent greater than today if we had eliminated chronic malnutrition when today’s workers were children.
The World Bank Group is committed to working with partners to increase our technical and financial support to ensure children are nourished, educated, and protected. Countries will only succeed in ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity when every child can reach their full potential.
