Introduction:

The effect of the COVID- 19 pandemic on the development of children is still uncertain; therefore, it is essential to estimate their development status in the time before the pandemic. The sustainable development goals favor all the resources and strategies to stimulate early childhood development. Government effectiveness is the central axis of developing such actions, policies, and procedures.

Methods:

We used the early child development module and index from national health surveys (MICS) of 33 countries to calculate the children on track. We also use the World Bank Governance Index, specifically the effective governance score. In addition, we carry out analysis with ArcGIS and GeoDa software to evaluate geographic correlations between the variables studied and identify geographic patterns of child development levels and effective governance. Pearson and Spearman correlation tests were performed in Stata 15.1 software.

Results:

We studied children from 33 low and middle-income countries; from 7 world regions. Thailand (91.1%) and Turkmenistan (90.7%) have the highest percentages of child development and the lowest in Burundi (39.6%). The lowest value on GE estimate is in Burundi (-1.3), and the highest in the Democratic Republic of Korea (1.0). In the GE Rank, the highest values are again in Korea (82.1%), and the lowest in Haiti (0.9%). The correlation grade between ECDI and GE Estimate was moderate positive (0.522, P-0.001, Correlation Spearman test), similarly to (0.518, P-0001, Pearson correlation test). The general spatial pattern prevails that the African regions present low government effectiveness and early child development scores, positively correlated in this study.

Conclusions:

With the most up-to-date data reported by countries, it is possible to establish the level of child development before 2019, the year in which the COVID-2019 pandemic began. Studies must be carried out during and after the pandemic to develop the direct and indirect damage received by children in the dimensions of development, in which the government response is decisive.