A United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) official is asking that children and early childhood development become a priority when budgets are prepared and debated here in Jamaica.

“Numerous studies have shown that every dollar invested in ensuring children the best start in life yields five times the return in the long run to children, their families and taxpayers,” Nada Marasovic, UNICEF’s deputy representative said while addressing the launch of the Lancet series on Child Development in Developing Countries at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Monday. The series was researched by University of the West Indies (UWI) professor, Emiriti Sally Grantham-McGregor; current academics professor, Susan Walker; and Dr Julie Meeks-Gardner.

Marasovic said that investing in children saves public funds in health, education and welfare, as well as breaks the inter-generational cycles of poverty, gender equality and violence.

“No child should be left without proper instructors, immunisation or access to good quality health services and education,” she said.

As such, she said Jamaica – which continues to make steady progress in this area – must create opportunities for children’s development and participation, as well as provide social safety nets for their families. Missing the investment in this crucial early stage, she added, comes at a much higher cost for the whole society later on.

Meanwhile, Vice-Chancellor at UWI, Professor Nigel Harris, in congratulating the local research team, said the circumstances in which children spend their early childhood will have a profound effect on their productivity as adults.

He said the decision by the researchers to gather the information into three succinct presentations will inform the magnitude of the problem of child deprivation and the modifiable risk factors which contribute to adverse childhood development. He said it will also present strategies that policy-making bodies can adopt to address these issues.

“What is impressive to me and I hope it will be to the policy makers the world over, is that this small group of researchers have gathered the requisite data in three relatively short, well-written papers in the Lancet that will unquestionably attract worldwide attention,” he said.

Added Harris: “Coming on the heels of learning last week that three other UWI academics – professor Anthony Chen, Dr John Agard and Dr Leonard Nurse were part of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change that shared in the Nobel Peace Prize with (former United States) vice- president, Al Gore, I have to say this has truly been the University’s best week.”