It is heartening to see the progress being made to build, for the first time, a strong education sector in Haiti. But, unfortunately, a critical piece is still absent.

Early childhood development programs that serve children from birth to age 8 would have an immense and lasting positive impact on both individual children and Haiti as a whole.

The Education for All Act of 2010 is a key step toward ensuring access to school for all children, directly supporting the Millennium Development Goals. If all eight goals are achieved by 2015, including basic education for all children, world poverty will be cut by half and tens of millions of lives will be saved. Funding education is the perhaps the most cost-effective use of our tax dollars, and our global policies should reflect that.

Although the past 50 years have seen a remarkable decline in child mortality, millions of children continue to die prematurely, and childhood continues to be a time of vulnerability due to a wide range of health risks.

The burden of disease is particularly severe in Africa, but it is also significant in the Eastern Mediterranean and South-East Asian regions, says a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

A new clinical trial on rotavirus vaccine in Kenya has shown it to prevent 83.4 percent of children from contracting severe rotavirus, the most common cause of severe diarrhoea among infants during the first year of life.

It is heartening to see the progress being made to build, for the first time, a strong education sector in Haiti. But, unfortunately, a critical piece is still absent.

Early childhood development programs that serve children from birth to age 8 would have an immense and lasting positive impact on both individual children and Haiti as a whole.

The Education for All Act of 2010 is a key step toward ensuring access to school for all children, directly supporting the Millennium Development Goals. If all eight goals are achieved by 2015, including basic education for all children, world poverty will be cut by half and tens of millions of lives will be saved. Funding education is the perhaps the most cost-effective use of our tax dollars, and our global policies should reflect that.

August 10, 2010: NEW DELHI--Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, who was today appointed UNICEF ambassador, says she will be working for the cause of girl education in the country.

August 10, 2010: To address the epidemic of undocumented children in Angola, the government recently passed a new law establishing free birth registration for children under five at maternity hospitals.