This study uses 36 standardized population and health surveys – Multiple Indicator Cluster
Surveys, Demographic and Health Surveys and Pan-Arab Project for Family Health – from
sixteen countries for years 2002–2015 to assess the evolution of early childhood opportunities in
countries across the Arab region. Fifteen indicators for children’s basic opportunities – including
qualified care for mothers during pregnancy and child delivery, children’s access to minimum
nutrition, health, parental care and developmental activities – are assessed. The typical level of
opportunities, inequality in opportunities across various socio-economic groups, and household
characteristics responsible for the inequality are reviewed.
The study concludes that access to ECD opportunities is largely inadequate and subject to vast
inequality across the Arab region as well as within countries – particularly children’s height,
access to iodized salt, enrolment in nurseries and preschool programs, cognitive stimulation at
home, and violent disciplining. Across most countries, children’s height falls behind in the first
two years of children’s life, suggesting that this is a crucial period in which a targeted
institutional intervention could be most fruitful. While ECD opportunities are improving and
becoming more equal over time across many countries, progress is uneven. For the rates of
skilled care during child delivery, child immunization, and enrolment in preschool programs,
access is deteriorating, perhaps reflecting low priority given to them in public policy. Among
Arab countries, a number of indicators were deteriorating in Djibouti, Mauritania and Syria.
Surprisingly, countries experiencing uprisings fare better than other Arab countries in terms of
the level and trends in ECD opportunities.