Social Development and Public Governance > Social Development > Children and Youth
Breaking the Poverty Cycle: Keynote Addresses
By Amartya Sen, Gro Harlem Brundtland (11/99, SOC-114, En, Es)
These two speeches prepared for the seminar, Breaking the Poverty Cycle: Investing in Early Childhood, held during the IDB's 1999 Annual Meetings in Paris, address the importance of investments in early childhood interventions for social and economic development.
Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen presents the development process in the context of expanded human freedom, looking at it as a matter of choice and alternatives. In this context, he discusses ways in which investments in children can enhance human freedom and thereby advance development. He examines several childhood-adult connections, from political, economic, and social perspectives. Pointing out that childhood experiences directly impact adult capabilities, he makes the connection between well-prepared, confident children and adults who constructively contribute to society.
Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the World Health Organization and former Prime Minister of Norway, looks at investments in early childhood as a means of investing in poverty prevention. Promoting an integrated approach to child development, she emphasizes the need to work across disciplines and agencies, coordinate the actions of different actors involved in development, and forge new partnerships for effective work in the area of child development. Recognizing the importance of understanding the economic dimension of social development issues, she discusses the importance of designing cost-effective programs and interventions. She also discusses the need for good health, nutrition, and reproductive health care strategies at the center of any program targeted at children.
Last updated: 03/21/07
