Together with a group of experts, I spoke at last week’s Clinton Global Initiative on something I have become more and more convinced of the longer I do this work with Save the Children. The best investments we can make for children are those that are made early. The overwhelming evidence shows that if you want to spend money wisely on development, invest in early education and healthcare. The return on those investments will far surpass those you make later in children’s lives.

In fighting child mortality, we know that malnutrition is an underlying factor in nearly one-third of under5 deaths. And malnutrition leads to the stunting of children – 170 million children who will never reach their full potential either physically or mentally. The cost of this burden on a country is substantial: a loss of 2-3% of GDP is the annual result of reduced productivity due to stunting. And in poor countries, the terrible burden of child deaths often comes in the very first month of life. In some countries like Nepal, where there has been significant progress