President Santos announced that he will use money appropriated from drug traffickers to fund comprehensive early-childhood care, Caracol Radio reported Monday.
Juan Manuel Santos announced Monday that $25 million seized from drug traffickers will be diverted to the government’s new strategy for comprehensive early childhood care.
“Our goal for the next four years is to provide such comprehensive care to 1.2 million children from vulnerable populations. This is embodied in our National Development Plan. To achieve this goal means an investment of COP5.6 billion ($2.9 million) for this term,” said the head of state.
According to the leader, this term’s investment is almost three times larger than the investment in early childhood care made over the past four years, which amounted to $1 million (COP2 billion).
The president said that the money will go towards “getting the resources for a comprehensive health service, prenatal care that benefits the expectant mother, monitoring the growth and development of the baby, vaccination, and identification.” He added the work will involve providing, “adequate housing conditions, access to potable water, a family with employment and productive activities, pertinent educational space, excellent nutrition and happy spaces.”
Santos went on to say that eradicating poverty and minimizing social inequality starting at early childhood is to be “understood as a shared responsibility between family, the state and civil society.”
