Since the launch of the campaign in 2020, Eurochild and the International Step by Step Association, in partnership with the European Public Health Alliance and Roma Education Fund, have built a strong community of advocates for early childhood and the need for more public investment to support young children and their families.

Working with national partners in nine European countries, the campaign focuses on children who are most vulnerable, including children with disabilities, Roma and Traveller children, migrant and refugee children, children at risk of entering, or in, alternative care, and those in extreme poverty. It prioritises children from birth to 6 years, with a special attention to the first 1,000 days. Country partners have developed strong national coalitions, engaging policy-makers to address poverty, inequality and social exclusion in children’s earliest years.

To create lasting change, the campaign works at national and European levels to harness EU initiatives and create a virtuous circle between grassroots activism & NGO services with national policy, legislative & public spending reforms, so that all children can have the best start in life.