Our Commitment: Through the Under-8 or U-8 Initiative, which will require $10 million over five years, we will:
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support and strengthen at least 100 grassroots organizations in the developing world that provide quality early childhood development programs for vulnerable children under age 8 in order to ensure their healthy psychosocial and physical development and prepare them for formal schooling;
invest in children’s books, documentary films, and photography that raise awareness of the importance of early childhood education in realizing the potential of young children in the developing world and highlight innovative grassroots organizations with model programs.
Partnership Opportunities: We invite partnerships with people and organizations to provide funding for our “grants plus” approach to supporting and strengthening small community-based organizations working with young children. We are also looking for partners in our knowledge ventures to help raise awareness of the importance of early childhood development in the developing world, to exchange knowledge among field practitioners, and to document and publicize the most promising and successful models from the grass roots. We also welcome partners for our Global Media Ventures investments in children’s books, documentary films, and photography that celebrate global diversity and show grassroots organizations’ impact on the lives of poor and vulnerable children.
Background: Inspiration often starts with a spark. The spark that catalyzed our commitment can be traced to December 1999, when President Bill Clinton went online to buy holiday gifts to show the American public that it was safe to make purchases through the Internet. One of the gifts he purchased was our first book, Children from Australia to Zimbabwe. Our grantmaking work was just gaining momentum at that time, and we are proud to have established a track record of success, as evidenced by our thriving early grantee partners, several of which have been featured at prior meetings of the Clinton Global Initiative. They include Ruchika Social Service Organization (grantee 1997–2005), the Afghan Institute of Learning (grantee 1999–2005), CAMFED (grantee 2000–2001), Room to Read (grantee 2002), and Ubuntu Education Fund (grantee 2002–2005).
With an eye toward strengthening the grass roots, we will seek out the most promising community-based early childhood development and education models that build the skills of both children and their parents. These programs will demonstrate a record of success in developing the social, emotional, and cognitive abilities of young children under age 8 and preparing them to enter primary school. Through a combination of financial support, organizational development assistance, and technical strengthening, these nascent and emerging community models will become bigger, stronger, and more effective in their efforts to reach the youngest and most vulnerable children in their communities, providing global demonstration models for adaptation.
