Educating very young children

What does UNICEF call for to achieve universal pre-primary education?
What does UNICEF do to advance pre-primary education?
UNICEF works to give every child a fair start in education. We support pre-primary education in 129 countries around the globe by:

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  Building political commitment to quality pre-primary education through evidence generation, advocacy and communication
  
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  Strengthening policies and advocating for increased public financing for pre-primary education
  
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  Bolstering national capacity to plan and implement quality pre-primary education at scale
  
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  Enhancing the quality of pre-primary programmes by supporting the development of quality standards, curricular frameworks, teacher training packages and more
  
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  Collecting data and generating evidence for innovative approaches that deliver quality pre-primary education for vulnerable children
  
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  Delivering conflict-sensitive early childhood education and psychosocial support to young children and their families in humanitarian situations
  

Early childhood education (ECE), also known as nursery education, is a branch of education theory that relates to the teaching of children (formally and informally) from birth up to the age of eight.^[1] Traditionally, this is up to the equivalent of third grade.^[2] ECE is described as an important period in child development.
ECE emerged as a field of study during the Enlightenment, particularly in European countries with high literacy rates.^[3] It continued to grow through the nineteenth century as universal primary education became a norm in the Western world. In recent years, early childhood education^[4] has become a prevalent public policy issue, as funding for preschool and pre-K is debated by municipal, state, and federal lawmakers.^[5][6][7] Governing entities are also debating the central focus of early childhood education with debate on developmental appropriate play versus strong academic preparation curriculum in reading, writing, and math.^[8] The global priority placed on early childhood education is underscored with targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4.
ECE is also a professional designation earned through a post-secondary education program. For example, in Ontario, Canada, the designations ECE (Early Childhood Educator) and RECE (Registered Early Childhood Educator) may only be used by registered members of the College of Early Childhood Educators, which is made up of accredited child care professionals who are held accountable to the College's standards of practice.^[9]