The inauguration took place within the framework of the workshop on early childhood “Early and Forever After” opened by President Tabaré Vázquez.

From 30th November to 3rd December, the workshop on early childhood entitled “Early and Forever After” was held in Montevideo. The event was organised by Uruguay's Ministries of Public Health, Social Development, and Education and Culture; the Institute for Children and Adolescents (INAU); the State Health Services Administration (ASSE); the National Administration of Public Education (ANEP); and the City Hall of Montevideo. In addition to EUROsociAL's support, the workshop benefited from the collaboration of the IDB, ECLAC, UNPD, UNESCO, and UNICEF.

The overall objective of the workshop was to mark a milestone in the promotion, strengthening, and consolidation of a comprehensive protection system for early childhood in Uruguay. President Tabaré Vázquez opened the workshop by declaring that “What happens between pregnancy and the first years of life is what lays the groundwork for development. It provides us with opportunities to be who we are and to contribute to developing society. This workshop will serve to identify objectives, targets, and tasks for construction of a protection system for childhood in Uruguay”.

Accordingly, he invited his entire cabinet of ministers to the opening of the event. Together they expressed the national commitment to early childhood, established as one of the main priorities of the government. “Early childhood”—he asserted—“is not the exclusive province of any sector, ministry, or particular programme but rather is the responsibility of the state as such. It requires institutional leadership and policy, but also the involvement of society as a whole”.

Within the framework of the workshop, the National Care Plan for Early Childhood was presented. This will be part of Uruguay's new National Care System, established by law in November of this year. Julio Bango, National Secretary of Care, stated that “Care must be understood as a right and a social function. The care system is the fourth axis of the social protection system, along with health, education, and social security. It is the axis that cuts across the entire system and gives it solidity”.

Preparation of the plan was supported by the EUROsociAL Programme of the European Union. EUROsociAL contributed lessons learnt from the European experience through technical assistance and the organisation of a technical visit to France and Belgium by an inter-agency delegation made up of civil servants from the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Education and Culture, as well as of the ANEP and the INAU. 

The National Care Plan for Early Childhood involves a change in the management of the public policy, which passes from the logic of services to the logic of people. In the words of the Head of the Early Childhood Area of the National Care System, Gabriel Corbo, “the system is intersectoral, it represents a different way of working. We have to continue doing what we are doing, improving some things and creating new things, new modalities adapted to the needs of families, such as the Community Care Centres. The international experience visited inspired many of the changes being proposed”.

The National Care Plan for Early Childhood establishes three main lines of action: advancing in expanding parental leave policies; ensuring a universal educational offer for three-year-olds through the creation of regulated private services and an increase in INAU and ANEP benefits; and extending and innovating in the care offer for boys and girls under two by introducing diverse modes of flexible daily attention that better meet the needs of families.