Goal: to address the shortage of public daycare centers (or crèches) for children aged 0-3 in most low-income neighbourhoods.
Brief description: The program consists of a variety of centre-based interventions, including full-time day care, health services, food and the provision of instructional toys and material for children. It is expected that access to these wellequipped and properly managed day care centres, by providing a nurturing and stimulating environment for disadvantaged children, will boost human capital accumulation by the poor. It is also expected that mothers and other household members caring for the children are able to seek employment and increase their earnings, thereby improving the well-being of their households. In addition, the programme foresees involvement by parents as a way of improving knowledge about good parenting practices.