EARLY CHILDHOOD ON THE WORLD AGENDA: IMPACTS ON THE REALITY OF CHILDHOOD Aline Elisa Maretto Lang
Introduction
T
he concern for childhood and adolescence rights gained prominence towards the end of the 20th century in the worldwide scenario, culminating in incorporation in the agendas of national governments. The acknowledgement of these rights was embodied in the Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Child during the United Nations (UN) Convention held in 1989, becoming an important milestone in this process (FUJIMOTO, 2016). Although this is a relevant document, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child does not address early childhood in a direct manner (UN, 1989). Many events occurred from the 2000s that combined to boost the visibility of early childhood in the international scenario and its inclusion in the agendas of national governments. The growth of this debate led to various worldwide commitments being agreed upon, requiring specific action from governments, as these agreements incorporated goals, targets and deadlines to be met, as well as the need to draw up policies and programmes enabling their achievement (LANG, 2020). Among the global agreements, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of 2000 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of 2015, still in force, endorsed the need for public policies
