Addressing nurturing care for early childhood development

Nurturing care refers to a stable environment created by parents and other caregivers that ensures children's good health and nutrition, protects them from threats, and gives young children opportunities for early learning, through interactions that are emotionally supportive and responsive.

The way mothers, fathers and other caregivers nurture and support children in the early years is among the most decisive factors for healthy child development, with lifelong and intergenerational benefits for health, productivity and social cohesion.

The Nurturing Care Framework provides an evidence-based roadmap for action and outlines how policies and services can support parents, families, other caregivers and communities in providing nurturing care for young children.

The Sustainable Development Goals have embraced children’s development in order to catalyse the transformation that the world seeks to achieve by 2030.