ELAN—Early Learning
and Nutrition Facility
Scaling early childhood
development andnutrition service delivery
The Jacobs Foundation and the UBS Optimus Foundation,
the Ivorian government and 9 cocoa and chocolatecompanies want to create an Early Learning and Nutrition(ELAN) financing facility that will support the Ivorian
Government to extend proven-to-work Early Childhood
Development (ECD) interventions in Côte d’Ivoire. ELAN
aims to reach 1.3 million children aged 0 to 5 in rural Côte
d’Ivoire in contributing to their optimal physical, emotionaland cognitive development by providing their caregiversaccess to training and basic services critical for young
children’s wellbeing.
The facility would be endowed with seed fundingof CHF 20 million, and has a target capitalizationof CHF 40 million, to serve as a multi-stakeholder
platform for advocacy, resource mobilisation, evidencebased decision-making, coordination, planning andimplementation of ECD interventions. It brings together
decisions-makers from government, the cocoa industry,
philanthropic and development agencies, as well as civilsociety. The facility will respond directly to three specificnational strategies targeting children: The NationalMultisectoral Nutrition Plan; the 10 years Education SectorPlan; and the National Action Plan to Combat Child Labor.
As such, the ELAN partnership could become the firstpublic private partnership focused on scaling investments
for children under the age of five in Côte d’Ivoire.

Background: the next
prospering generation
Investing in early childhood development is one of thebest investments a country can make to boost economic
growth, develop human capital and break the vicious cycleof poverty.1 James Heckman (2006) demonstrates thatthe earlier we invest in children’s development, the higher
the returns. Equally important, investing in early childhood
development is necessary to uphold the right of every childto survive and thrive.
The primary caregivers of young children can play a majorrole in improving child-related indicators. Physical and brain
development is most rapid in the earliest years of life, whenchildren are fully dependent on their caregivers. Yet in Côte
d’Ivoire, caregivers receive very little support to do so. As aresult, a large majority of parents and caregivers maintainpractices that they consider positive and appropriate,
although in fact harmful. Hence, despite its well-performing
economy, Côte d’Ivoire struggles to improve its humandevelopment indicators, which in turn is stagnating its
human capital.

Catalysing the impact ofexisting efforts
ELAN will be much more effective if it is embedded in thecontext of a broader child rights framework addressing
concurrent efforts (maintained or scaled-up) such as
child protection/due diligence systems, poverty reduction
or improved quality education. Jacobs Foundation andits philanthropic partners strongly believe that ELAN isa catalytic investment with the potential to acceleratebroader multi-stakeholder agreement.
To date, substantial investments have been committed toECD in Côte d’Ivoire including the Projet Multisectoriel deNutrition et Développement de la Petite Enfance (PMNDPE), aCHF 60 million project financed primarily by a credit fromthe World Bank and a grant from the Power of Nutrition.
While substantial, the current investments remain
restricted in scope and cover only part of the country’sneeds. With the objective to fill this gap, ELAN will build
upon the gains of the PMNDPE and will bring to scale ECD
service delivery focussing on caregiver programs, whilestrengthening government capacity by prioritizing delivery
via its institutional platforms.
1

https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/earlyyears

Expected resuts

Call to action

Expected results (2025)
Target capitalization of CHF 40 M

Companies and institutions interested in partnering with
ELAN should contact:irina.hotz@jacobsfoundation.org~1.3 million children aged 0––5 years reachedwith nurtuting care interventions
200 ECD relevant infrastructures arerenovated and equipped to improve the qualityof child-friendly spaces.
All projects follow clear guidelines and aminimum package of activities.
Local scientific on the early years is generated.

Contributing partners–– Ivorian government–– Philanthropy
Jacobs Foundation, UBS Optimus Foundation–– Cocoa and chocolate companies
Barry Callebaut, Cargill, Chocolonely Foundation,ECOM, Ferrero, The Hershey Company, Mars Wrigley,
Mondelez International, Touton

Jacobs Foundation
Seefeldquai 17P.O. BoxCH-8034 Zurichwww.jacobsfoundation.org