Why does ALAS focus on Early Childhood Development (ECD)?
Early childhood is considered the most important development phase in everyone’s life. Eighty percent of an individual’s brain develops between 0 and 3 years of age. Thoughts, sensations, personal traits, and motor abilities are shaped during this period. In addition, basic communication skills, particularly speech and language, develop between 3 and 6 years of age. If neurological development in children under 3 years of age experiences delays due to unsuitable prenatal care, malnutrition, or lack of stimulation, all the adverse effects this may have for the rest of their lives are both difficult and expensive to compensate. The consequences in the medium and the long term include poor health, a disruptive social behavior that could eventually lead to criminality later in life, learning difficulties, school failure, and diminished income-earning capacity. In turn, these have very profound implications. ALAS considers ECD among its top priorities, as it believes ECD to be potentially t
