Investing in Young Children Strengthens America’s Global Leadership
Supporting the world’s youngest children is one of the smartest, most effective investments in U.S. strength and soft power. The cancellation of 83 percent of foreign assistance programs in early 2025, coupled with the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), not only caused unnecessary suffering of millions of young children in low-income countries, but also harmed U.S. security, economic competitiveness, and global leadership. As Congress crafts legislation to administer foreign assistance under a new America First focused State Department, it should recognize that renewed attention and support for young children in low-income countries will help meet stated U.S. foreign assistance priorities to make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous. Specifically, Congress should: (1) prioritize funding for programs that promote early childhood development; (2) bolster State Department staffing to administer resources efficiently; and (3) strengthen accountability and transparency of funding.
Challenge and Opportunity
Supporting children’s development through health, nutrition, education, and protection programs helps the U.S. achieve its national security and economic interests, including the Administration’s priorities to make America “safer, stronger, and more prosperous.” Investing in global education, for example, generates economic growth overseas, creating trade opportunities and markets for the U.S. In fact, 11 of America’s top 15 trading partners once received foreign aid. Healthy, educated populations are associated with less conflict and extremism, which reduces pressures on migration. Curbing the spread of infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and Ebola makes Americans safer from disease both abroad and at home. As a diplomacy tool, providing support for early childhood development, which is a priority in many partner countries, increases U.S. goodwill and influence in these countries and contributes to its geopolitical competitiveness.
Helping young children thrive in low-income countries is a high-return investment in stable economies, skilled workforces, and a stronger America on the world stage. In a July 2025 press release, the State Department recognized how investing in children and families globally contributes to America’s national development and priorities:
Supporting children and families strengthens the foundation of any society. Investing in their protection and well-being is a proven strategy for ensuring American security, solidifying American strength, and increasing American prosperity. When children and families around the world thrive, nations flourish.
The first five years of a child’s life is a period of unprecedented brain development. Investments in early childhood programs – including parent coaching, child care, and quality preschool – yield large and long-term benefits for individuals and society-at-large, up to a 13% return on investment, particularly when these interventions are targeted to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged populations. Despite the promise of early childhood interventions, 43% of children under five in low- and middle-income countries are at elevated risk of poor development, leaving them vulnerable to the long-term negative impacts of adversity, such as poverty, malnutrition, illness, and exposure to violence. The costs of inaction are high; countries that underinvest in young children are more likely to have less healthy and educated populations and to struggle with higher unemployment and lower GDPs.
Informed by this powerful evidence, the bipartisan Global Child Thrive Act of 2020 required U.S. Government agencies to develop and implement policies to advance early childhood development – the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development of children up to age 8 – in partner countries. This legislation supported early childhood development through nutrition, education, health, and water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions. It mandated the U.S. Government Special Advisor for Children in Adversity to lead a coordinated, comprehensive, and effective U.S. government response through international assistance. The bipartisan READ Act complements the Thrive Act by requiring the U.S. to implement an international strategy for basic education, starting with early childhood care and education.
Three examples of USAID-funded early childhood programs terminated in 2025 illustrate how investments in young children not only achieve multiple development and humanitarian goals, but also address U.S. priorities to make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous:
- Cambodia. Southeast Asia is of strategic importance to U.S. security given risks of China’s political and military influence in the region. The Integrated Early Childhood Development activity ($20 million) helped young children (ages 0-2) and their caregivers through improved nutrition, responsive caregiving, agricultural practices, better water, sanitation, and hygiene, and support for children with developmental delays or disabilities. Within a week of cancellation, China filled the USAID vacuum and gained a soft-power advantage by announcing funding for a program to achieve almost identical goals.
- Honduras. Foreign assistance mitigates poverty, instability, and climate shocks that push people to migrate from Central America (and other regions) to the U.S. The Early Childhood Education for Youth Employability activity ($8 million) aimed to improve access to quality early learning for more than 100,000 young children (ages 3-6) while improving the employability and economic security for 25,000 young mothers and fathers, a two-generation approach to address drivers of irregular migration.
- Ethiopia. The U.S. has a long-standing partnership with Ethiopia to increase stability and mitigate violent extremism in the Horn of Africa. Fostering peace and promoting security, in turn, expands markets for American businesses in the region. Through a public-private partnership with the LEGO Foundation, the Childhood Development Activity ($46 million) reached 100,000 children (ages 3-6+) in the first two years of the program with opportunities for play-based learning and psycho-social support for coping with negative effects of conflict and drought.
Drastic funding cuts have jeopardized the wellbeing of vulnerable children worldwide and the “soft power” the U.S. has built through relationships with more than 175 partner countries. In January 2025, the Trump Administration froze all foreign assistance and began to dismantle the USAID, the lead coordinating agency for children’s programs under the Global Child Thrive Act and READ Act. By March 2025, sweeping cuts ended most USAID programs focused on children’s education, health, water and sanitation, nutrition, infectious diseases (malaria, tuberculosis, neglected tropical diseases, and HIV/AIDS), and support for orphans and vulnerable children. In total, the U.S. eliminated around $4 billion in foreign assistance intended for children in the world’s poorest countries. As a result, an estimated 378,000 children have died from preventable illnesses, such as HIV, malaria, and malnutrition.
In July 2025, Congress voted to approve the Administration’s rescission package, which retracts nearly $8 billion of FY25 foreign assistance funding that was appropriated, but not yet spent. This includes support for 6.6 million orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and $142 million in core funding to UNICEF, the UN agency which helps families in emergencies and vulnerable situations globally. An additional $5 billion of foreign assistance funding expired at the end of the fiscal year while being withheld through a pocket rescission.
As Congress works to reauthorize the State Department, and what remains of USAID, it should see that helping young children globally supports both American values and strategic interests.
Recent U.S. spending on international children’s programs accounted for only 0.09% of the total federal budget and only around 10% of foreign assistance expenditure. If Congress does not act, this small, but impactful funding is at risk of disappearing from the FY 2026 budget.
Plan of Action
For decades, the U.S. has been a leader in international development and humanitarian assistance. Helping the world’s youngest children reach their potential is one of the smartest, most effective investments the U.S. government can make. Congress needs to put in place funding, staffing, and accountability mechanisms that will not only support the successful implementation of the Global Child Thrive Act, but also meet U.S. foreign policy priorities.
Recommendation 1. Prioritize funding for early childhood development through the Department of State
In the FY26 budget currently under discussion, Congress has the responsibility to fund global child health, education, and nutrition programs under the authority of the State Department. These child-focused programs align with America’s diplomatic and economic interests and are vital to young children’s survival and well-being globally.
To promote early childhood development specifically, the Global Child Thrive Act should be reauthorized under the auspices of the State Department. While there is bipartisan support in the House Foreign Affairs Committee to extend authorization of the Global Child Thrive Act through 2027, the current bill had not made it to the House floor as of October 2025, and the Senate bill was delayed by a federal government shutdown.
Congress should pass legislation to appropriate $1.5 billion in FY26 funding for life-saving and life-changing programs for young children, including:
- The Vulnerable Children’s Account which funds multi-sectoral, evidence-based programs that support the objectives of the Global Child Thrive Act and the Advancing Protection and Care for Children in Adversity Strategy ($50 million).
- PEPFAR 10% Orphans and Vulnerable Children Set Aside which protects and promotes the holistic health and development of children affected by HIV/AIDS ($710 million).
- UNICEF core funding, given the agency’s track record in advancing early childhood development programs in development and humanitarian settings ($300 million).
- Commitments to government-philanthropy partnerships with pooled funds that prioritize the early years including the Global Partnership for Education, Education Cannot Wait, the Early Learning Partnership, and the Global Financing Facility ($430 million).
Funding should be written into legislation so that it is protected from future cuts.
Recommendation 2. Adequately staff the State Department to coordinate early childhood programs
The State Department needs to rebuild expertise on global child development that was lost when USAID collapsed. As a first step, current officials need to be briefed on relevant legislation including the Global Child Thrive Act and the READ Act. In response to the reduced capacity, Congress should fund a talent pipeline in order to attract a cadre of professionals within the State Department in Washington, DC and at U.S. Embassies who can focus on early years issues across sectors and funding streams. Foreign nationals who have a deep understanding of local contexts should be considered for these roles.
In the context of scarce resources, coordination and collaboration is more important than ever. The critical role of the USG Special Advisor for Children in Adversity should be formally transferred to the State Department to provide technical leadership and implementation support for children’s issues. Within the reorganized State Department, the Special Advisor should sit in the office of the Under Secretary for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs and Religious Freedom (F), where s/he can serve as a leading voice for children and foster inter-agency coordination across the Departments of Agriculture and Labor, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, etc.
Congress also should seek clarification on how the new Special Envoy for Best Future Generations will contribute specifically to early childhood development. The State Department appointed the Special Envoy in June 2025 as a liaison for initiatives impacting the well-being of children under age 18 in the U.S. and globally. In the past three months, the Special Envoy has met with U.S. government officials at the White House and State Department, representatives from 14 countries at the U.N., and non-governmental organizations to discuss coordinated action on children’s issues, such as quality education, nutritious school meals, and ending child labor and trafficking.
Recommendation 3. Increase accountability and transparency for funds allocated for young children
Increased oversight over funds can improve efficiency, prevent delays, and reduce risks of funds expiring before they reach intended families. The required reporting on FY24 programs is overdue and should be submitted to Congress by the end of December 2025.
Going forward, Congress should require the State Department to report regularly and testify on how money is being spent on young children. Reporting should include evidence-based measures of Return on Investment (ROI) to help demonstrate the impact of early childhood programs. In addition, the Office of Foreign Assistance should issue a yearly report to Congress and to the public which tracks annual inter-agency progress toward implementing the Global Child Thrive Act using a set of indicators, including the approved pre-primary indicator and other relevant and feasible indicators across age groups, programs, and sectors.
Conclusion
Investing in young children’s growth and learning around the world strengthens economies, builds goodwill, and secures America’s position as a trusted global leader. To help reach U.S. foreign policy priorities, Congress must increase funding, staffing and accountability of the State Department’s efforts to promote early childhood development, while also strengthening multi-agency coordination and accountability for achieving results. The Global Child Thrive Act provides the legislative mandate and a technical roadmap for the U.S. Government to follow.
By investing only about 1% of the federal budget, USAID contributed to political stability, economic growth, and good will with partner countries. A new Lancet article estimates USAID funding saved 30 million children’s lives between 2001 and 2021 and was associated with a 32% reduction in under five deaths in low- and middle-income countries. In the past five years alone, funding supported the learning of 34 million children. USAID spending was heavily examined by the State Department, Congress, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of the Inspector General. Recent claims of waste, fraud, and abuse are inaccurate, exaggerated or taken out of context.
The public strongly supports many aspects of foreign assistance that benefit children. A recent Pew Research Study found that around 80% of Americans agreed that the U.S. should provide medicine and medical supplies, as well as food and clothing, to people in developing countries. In terms of political support, children’s programs are viewed favorably by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. For example, the Global Child Thrive Act was introduced by Representatives Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Christopher Coons (D-DE) and passed with bipartisan support from Congress.
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