“Unicef urges governments and the private sector to increase spending and influence policies to support early childhood development programmes that focus on providing parents with the resources and information they need to provide nurturing care to their children,” read their statement.
Fathers are struggling to spend time with their children world over, shows a recent Unicef survey released on the occasion of Fathers’ Day.
More than half – or 55% – of children aged between 3 and 4 years-old in 74 countries – approximately 40 million – have fathers who do not play or engage in early learning activities with them, shows the survey.
“What these numbers show us is that fathers are struggling to play an active role in their children’s early years” said Laurence Chandy, Unicef director of data, research and policy.
The activities include having their father read to the children, tell them stories or sing with them; taking them outside, playing with them; and naming, counting or drawing with them. The MICS is the largest collection of comparable data on parental behaviours in the world.
