Harnessing
Global Data

The Harnessing Global Data Project will:

• Bridge the gap between 0-3 and 3-6, break down the false dichotomy between ECD and ECE and bring learning and development together
  ECD, often defined as the period between 0-3yrs, is most frequently considered the domain of health where ECE (3-6yrs)is considered the domain of education.  This artificial pulling apart of these two intricately linked processes is a barrier to global improvements in these domains.
• Use available data and collect new global data
  The project will analyse new and existing global data looking at threats to ECD by examining gender, location and wealth, services and family supports for young children, and policies that create facilitating environments for families and children. We will link indicators of the structural quality of ECE to contexts and child outcomes in LMICs, process quality, source data on government, development assistance and household expenditures on pre-primary education.  We will extract further country micro-data on contexts in which young children develop and learn; update nationally representative data on young children, services and policies to the most recent survey dates available, and develop new composite indicators of barriers and accelerators of young children’s learning and development.
• Advance children’s learning and development through global, regional and country advocacy
  The findings will support the development of the right to education by providing a holistic approach to guide early development and educational interventions. It will demonstrate the strength of interdisciplinary work in cross-fertilizing data analysis and legal research in building strong foundations for translation into policy and regulatory change.
• Reinforce the realization of children’s human rights
  We will use the results to provide evidence-based support to engage international human rights law, especially the right to education and the rights of the child, in advancing progress towards achieving the SDG goals of universal access by 2030. This research will address the gap in the evidence base for a unified approach to ECD and ECE.