New effort targets young kids

October 24, 2008

In its first full year of operation, the Under-8 Initiative of the Global Fund for Children has reached an estimated 47,000 children in 19 countries.

The goal of the five-year, $10 million program is to help grassroots organizations support and strengthen early childhood development programs serving vulnerable kids under age eight.

During its first year, the group awarded a total of $487,300 in grants and support to 29 organizations in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and the U.S.

The fund also published "Global Babies," a book of photographs of infants from around the world, and Children of the USA, a book profiling children living in one city in each state of the U.S.

Over the next four years, the effort aims to award an additional $9.5 million to an expanded group of community organizations.

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