The time from conception to toddlerhood is critical to brain development, language acquisition, motor skills, and the social, emotional and cognitive skills that children need to interact and play with others.

Early childhood marks the occurrence of many milestones and offers myriad opportunities to increase the odds of favourable development through prevention and intervention efforts in different social contexts, including the family, childcare, pre-school education and neighbourhoods.

Scientific evidence, including the groundbreaking work of DoY researchers within our communities have generated a much deeper appreciation of the importance of (very) early life experiences and the interaction between genes, individuals, and environments on child development and the unfolding of human behaviour over the course of a life.