How Are the Children? Experience-Based Perspective on Global Indicators of Early Child Development and Well-Being

The expansion of global application and accountability afforded in the transition from the Millennial Development Goals spurred the global networks of researchers, practitioners, and agencies to ensure child well-being, development and education were included in relevant goals’ targets and indicators in the newly formulated Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. This was built on recognition, using the evidence emerging in the first two decades of the century, that despite diversity of cultures and geographies, equitable and comparable social indicators can be designed for young children. This presentation will draw on my experience of development and use of several indicators of development in young children (e.g., Early Development Instrument, Early Development Index and Early Development Index 2030, Measuring Early Learning and Quality Outcomes) across multiple settings and cultures. Three key issues will be addressed: 1) the holistic nature of concepts of health, development and well-being in early childhood and its implications for measurement; 2) changing landscape of the need for informative yet comprehensive indicators to inform policy and practice; 3) challenges in feasibility and applicability of measures and interpretation of indices across cultures and geographies. The presentation will conclude with the promises for better understanding of children’s well-being, with particular references to the changing world. Global shocks such as COVID-19 pandemic and climate crisis will be used as examples of how better understanding of children’s development and well-being could provide means to advocate for attention and policy at all governing levels and information on how best to protect children and prevent long-lasting negative impacts of adverse events.