In 2019, CGD’s annual Birdsall House Conference brought together stakeholders focused on early childhood development and gender equality in an effort to break silos between these two groups and explore opportunities for closer collaboration. Since then, the COVID-19 crisis has elevated this agenda, as rigorous evidence documented the widening gender gaps in unpaid childcare responsibilities driven by school and childcare center closures. In parallel, we have also seen the launch of new platforms for childcare financing and policy reform, including the World Bank’s Invest in Childcare initiative, the Inter-American Development Bank’s ECD Innovation Fund, and the Global Alliance for Care.  

At this year’s Birdsall House Conference, we will convene researchers, policymakers, practitioners, advocates, and donors to review the latest rigorous evidence on return-on-investment opportunities, promising models for provision, and the necessary financing arrangements, laws, and policies to create an enabling environment for investments that benefit children, caregivers, communities, and economies. With this evidence as our foundation, we will discuss opportunities for a shared influencing agenda to increase and improve the effectiveness of investments in global childcare and wider ECD in the coming years. The full schedule is available here.