Analytic and Strategic Review Paper: International Perspectives on Early Child Development

The present work builds on the affirmed desire of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) to be judged on both its scientific rigor and the policy implications that the Commission’s work will generate. It contributes to the general discussion on the social determinants of health by complementing the work of the Commission’s other Knowledge Networks and by focusing on the fundamental conceptual issues relating to Early Child Development and Education (hereafter ECD). The areas of focus for each of the Commission’s Knowledge Networks—Globalization, Social Exclusion, Health Systems, Gender, Urban Settings, Employment Conditions, Priority Public Health Conditions, and Measurement—are critical to understanding the social determination of ECD, and as such will be integral to the work of the ECD network. December 2005.]