How can governments make sure non-profit organizations in Europe aren’t being used a front for financing terrorism? This was the subject of the EU Directorate General of Home Affairs’ third meeting on non-profit sector transparency and accountability. Having co-authored a book on accountability in the non-profit sector, I was happy to be asked to share my views. Read more

Setting our agenda on early learning, violence and physical environment is the latest edition of the Bernard van Leer Foundation's journal, Early Childhood Matters. A keynote article by programme director Michael Feigelson sets the scene for a collection of articles exploring different aspects of the foundation's new goals, including an update on the Wolfensohn Centre's studies of scaling up early childhood education programmes, an interview with UN special representative on violence against children Marta Santos Pais, and a look at town planning issues in the Netherlands.

The Bernard van Leer Foundation is offering three research internships to Masters students and young professionals. The internships will start on 1st September for four months at a minimum of 15 hours per week. Read more

Ciudad Juarez has become one of the most violent places in the world over the past one and a half years. There were 2600 homicides in 2009 and 1086 people have died already this year, mostly due to drugs related street violence. The Mexican army has taken up permanent residence in the city. One can only imagine what effects this has on the most vulnerable members of society in Ciudad Juarez, the children. At least 900 children have died in the past 3 years. Over 10,000 have lost parents. Read more

Now available to order or download as a pdf, Continuity and respect for diversity: Strengthening early transitions in Peru continues our Studies in Early Childhood Transitions series of working papers reporting on Young Lives, a 15-year longitudinal study of childhood poverty. This paper, by Patricia Ames, Vanessa Rojas and Tamia Portugal, explores the diverse experiences of 28 children from four contrasting communities in Peru as they start school. The authors highlight common problems and propose four ways in which children’s early educational transitions can be enhanced.

Last week to a packed audience in Brussels at the European Foundation Week (blog), I had an opportunity to share some thoughts with a hundred or so other foundations on evaluation. Read more

The 2010 Van Leer Lecture was delivered by Akwasi Aidoo on the subject of “Social Justice and Philanthropy in Africa: Transforming Power Relations and the Balance of Stories", as part of the Council on Foundations' 2010 Annual Conference in Denver last month. Akwasi Aidoo is the founding Executive Director of TrustAfrica, a foundation dedicated to securing democracy and equitable development in Africa. The lecture series is a partnership between the Van Leer Group Foundation and the Council on Foundations. It has been running since 2006 and is designed to highlight thoughtful international perspectives on philanthropy. Previous lecturers were Dr. Shimshon Zelniker of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute (2006); Dr. Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health (2007); Azar Nafisi, Iranian-born author of Reading Lolita in Tehran (2008); and Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch (2009).

On 11 May, the four partners of the Bernard van Leer Foundation who work together in Israel as the Musharaka Trust co-organised with the Ministry of Education's pre-primary department a conference in Nazareth on “Early Child Care and Development – The Holistic Integrative Approach". Attended by 150 representatives of various government and civil society organisations, the conference was lauded by foundation programme officer Marc J. Mataheru for enabling exchange and debate between the various stakeholders on a subject relevant to the foundation's new goal of scaling up quality early learning programmes. More information on the conference is available (in Arabic) on alarab.net, bokra.net and raddar.co.il.

Hosted by Plan Belgium, a panel of experts on early childhood presented experiences and analyses to the European Parliament in Brussels on May 5th. Among them, the Bernard van Leer Foundation's Leonardo Yánez made the case for supporting early education as a priority in the South. More information on the Plan Belgium website (in French).

Lisa Jordan, Executive Director, writes: "Roma children are three times more likely to die before the age of five than other European children. One million Roma children never go to school, another million Roma children are relegated to schools for children with special needs." Read more

We have pleasure to share a document prepared for the Alliance for Children’s Entitlement to Social Security (ACESS) in South Africa, which introduces indicators for monitoring the realisation of the rights of young children and applies them to provinces across the country.

With great sadness we wish to inform that Harry Leliveld, a Trustee of the Bernard van Leer Foundation, has passed away. Read more

The Bernard van Leer Foundation's Annual Report for 2009 is now available. Reports on our activities and finances over the last year are complemented by stories from the field showing the impact of selected grants, and an insight into how we arrived at the three goals that will define our grantmaking in the coming years. There is also an executive summary in Spanish.

Supporting Parenting is the latest in our publication series Early Childhood in Focus, published jointly with the Open University. This issue addresses government programmes to support parents in fulfilling their parenting role. How can these programmes be critically evaluated and adapted to local circumstances - and what is "good parenting" anyway? Early Childhood in Focus offers practical and accessible summaries of the latest research to policy makers, practitioners and advocates working in the field of early childhood.

On March 9th and 10th, the Bernard van Leer Foundation held two global expert meetings in which researchers, advocates and practitioners from around the world joined us at our office in the Hague to discuss two of our new goals: reducing violence in young children’s lives and improving the physical environments where young children grow up. Read more

A European Foundation Centre (EFC) Forum for Roma Inclusion Workshop took place on 4 and 5 March 2010 in The Hague, hosted by the Bernard van Leer Foundation. The focus of the workshop was on early childhood development within the Roma communities. Read more

The Bernard van Leer Foundation warmly welcomes the recent initiative by the World Bank and Grammy Award-winning artist Shakira, which will plough US$300 million into early childhood programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean over the next two years. We look forward to working with the World Bank's team on this issue.

Leonardo Yanez, programme officer for Latin America at the Bernard van Leer Foundation, this week addressed a special session of the Pemanent Council of the Organization of American States on the topic of “Investing in early childhood: a sure strategy for combating poverty and for promoting social development and equity”. You can watch the video of Leonardo's presentation on the OAS website, and read the OAS's press release on the event.

Young children are everyone’s business – and that includes businesses. The Bernard van Leer Foundation is reaching out to Dutch corporations with a €100,000 incentive to join us in investing in young children. Read more

The Bernard van Leer Foundation has made a €40,000 grant to Partners in Health to support those affected by the earthquake in Haiti. PIH has been working on the ground in Haiti for over 20 years, and we have previously supported their work to improve maternal and child health in rural areas. You can donate here.

The Bernard van Leer Foundation has announced it will commit €300,000 to support the United Nations’ Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children. With this contribution, the Bernard van Leer Foundation is the first private foundation to commit financial support to this new UN effort.

"On October 18 2009, Rio de Janeiro drug traffickers shot down a police helicopter during a gun battle between rival gangs in the favela Morro dos Macaco..." In a new message Lisa Jordan, the foundation's executive director, introduces the foundation's new goals and other important changes. Read more

On 26th November 2009 Bureau Mutant, a long-standing partner of the foundation in the Netherlands, celebrated its 20th anniversary. Accompanying the occasion was the launch of their latest publication, Permanent leren: Van zelfreflectie naar teamreflectie (Permanent learning: From self reflection to team reflection), one of the outputs from the foundation-funded Parents and Diversity project.

At the recent 4th International Africa Conference on Early Childhood Development, held in Senegal, five partners of the Bernard van Leer Foundation were among the winners of cash awards in two categories: ANPPCAN Kenya, and their local partner LACCDAP; Health Child in Uganda; FOST in Zimbabwe; Lesedi Educare Association in South Africa; and MAA (Maasai AIDS Project) in Kenya. The foundation sends congratulations to all.

On November 20th it is 20 years since the signing of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The foundation's flagship journal, Early Childhood Matters, marks this anniversary with a new edition on the subject of Realising the rights of young children: progress and challenges, featuring articles discussing various aspects of the CRC and General Comment 7 on implementing child rights in early childhood. Download the pdf or order your free printed copy today.

The Rural Family Support Organisation is set to receive a funding boost of seven million Jamaican dollars from the Jamaica National Building Society for its Roving Caregivers Programme, implemented also in partnership with the Bernard van Leer Foundation, which supports disadvantaged children aged 0-3 in the Caribbean region.

"Last week, to mark 60 years of the Bernard van Leer Foundation, we held two very special events in The Hague...": Lisa Jordan, the foundation's executive director, reflects on outreach to corporate leaders, the inaugural Oscar van Leer Fellowships for journalists, and the arrival of Sinterklaas in The Netherlands. Read more

Equity and quality? Challenges for early childhood and primary education in Ethiopia, India and Peru is a Working Paper which forms part of the "Studies in Early Transitions" series. It is based on Young Lives, a 15-year longitudinal study of childhood poverty in diverse majority world contexts, and addresses the challenges of achieving equity and quality in early childhood programmes. Order your free printed copy or download the pdf.

Congratulations to the foundation's South African partner DEDI, which has been announced as the winner of the Bloemfontein Institution of the Year Competition run by Ons Stad, the Mimosa Group of the Troskie family and Absa Bank. Among the runners-up was Lesedi, another foundation partner.

The latest in our series of Online Outreach Papers, Strengthening the care environment for children in Central America, looks at five organisations in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. As the foundation withdraws from future funding in the region, this is a collective endeavour to capture knowledge and lessons learned in using support, care and education programmes to work among children, families, and communities.

The Bernard van Leer Foundation yesterday celebrated its 60th anniversary with events in The Hague to announce a 100,000 euro initiative for corporate leaders (press release in English/Dutch) and award the inaugural Oscar van Leer Fellowships. These events were followed by a radio discussion (audio in Dutch only) on Radio 1's Casa Luna programme featuring the foundation's executive director, Lisa Jordan, together with Geert-Jan Johannes, author of a new book about the founder's son, Oscar van Leer.

The Bernard van Leer Foundation next week marks its 60th anniversary with an event in The Hague centred on the question of what young children can expect from corporate leaders. This press release (in Dutch) gives further details of a 100,000 euro incentive to Dutch corporations to engage in projects with young children. Those interested in attending the event on November 11th (see invitation), which features a panel discussion with Dutch corporate leaders, are invited to email 60yearsbvlf@bvleerf.nl to check if space is available.

A partner of the foundation in South Africa, the Early Learning Resource Centre, received a special commendation as a finalist in the Mail and Guardian's Investing in the Future awards.

Lisa Jordan writes: “There couldn’t be a more challenging time to begin to lead a privately endowed foundation than in the midst of a global financial crisis. But challenges also imply opportunities. Three months after taking over as the Executive Director of the Bernard van Leer Foundation, I would like to take a moment to share with you what I have learned so far, and how the foundation intends to carry forward its work. Read more

Effective Early Childhood Programmes is the latest in the Early Childhood in Focus series, published in collaboration with the Open University, which provides accessible reviews of research and clear messages on policy issues. It outlines the case for early childhood programmes, summarises the evidence for their effectiveness, and considers the challenges in taking them to scale.

The Bernard van Leer Foundation has chosen six young journalists from developing countries to be the inaugural recipients of the Oscar van Leer Fellowships. The fellowships aim to increase the quantity and quality of media coverage of issues affecting young children. For further details, please see the press release.

In a new foundation Working Paper, Too young for respect? Realising respect for young children in their everyday environments: A cross-cultural analysis, Shanti George looks at the routine disrespect shown to young children in everyday life and examines case studies from Germany and Israel to show what respect for young children looks like in practice.

Time Out Bangalore features an interview with Steve Bradshaw about Early Life, the foundation-supported three-part TV series on early childhood.

A joint publication with Bertelsmann Stiftung, the latest in the foundation's Working Papers series - There are alternatives! Markets and democratic experimentalism in early childhood education and care - challenges the hegemony of the market model in early childhood education and care, discussing "democratic experimentalism" as an alternative.

The Bernard van Leer Foundation is recruiting for a Communications Director (pdf), who will be the first hire in a new executive team. The closing date for applications has been extended to 10 September.

The Bernard van Leer Foundation has donated 2500 titles on early childhood development and child rights to the library of the International Institute of Social Studies, in The Hague. Read more on the ISS's website, including details of how to access these resources.

TVE's three-part series Early Life, made with foundation support, is currently showing on BBC World. Part one, shot in Peru, aired on Saturday August 1st; part two, filmed in the Nairobi slum of Kibera, will show on Saturday August 8th; and part three, following children in Thailand, on Saturday August 15th. Check the BBC World schedules in your region.

How can cultures of violence in elementary schools be tackled by shifting school values towards mutual respect and dignity, rather than authoritarian approaches? Maintaining a respectful climate for young children in schools: no trumpet solo – let the orchestra play! looks at a foundation-funded programme implemented in Israel by Person to Person: Association for the Advancement of Human Dignity.

Jewish-Arab schools in Israel: parents’ perspectives and children’s realities is the latest in the foundation's range of Online Outreach Papers. The 18-page paper presents the perceptions and experiences of parents and research by University in Jerusalem anthropologist Zvi Bekerman on the Hand in Hand Centre for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel.

Our partner Ecole Santé Social Sud-Est has released an English translation of a report into the practice and policy of child care and education in France, including guidelines for training, in the context of respect for diversity and the distinctively French concept of laïcité. The 95-page document by Myriam Mony, with a foreword by Michel Vandenbroeck, is available to download in pdf format.

A World for Children is a photo-book by Dutch photojournalist Peter de Ruiter, to which the Bernard van Leer Foundation contributed support, which aims to raise awareness of the issue of child labour. The book was presented in Brussels, Geneva and New York to mark the recent World Day Against Child Labour, and is available for purchase in the Netherlands and USA.

Jim Smale, who edited the foundation's flagship journal Early Childhood Matters for many years, has died aged 68. Jim was largely responsible for giving the publication its current format. The next edition of ECM will be published soon.

The new edition of Early Childhood Matters, Family stress: Safeguarding young children's care environment, asks how to deal with and diminish family stress and what factors contribute to children’s resilience and coping mechanisms. It includes an conceptual overview by Ted Wachs, an interview with Professor James Heckman, and insights from countries including Mexico, South Africa and Bulgaria.

The foundation's latest Annual Report is now available for download (pdf), reviewing our activities in 2008. It includes an in-depth look at activities in Mexico, India and South Africa, and an executive summary in Spanish.

We are pleased to make available a valuable new resource from our Indian partner CHETNA, a manual entitled My Rights, My Responsibilities: Learning To Teach Child Rights, which is aimed at facilitators of training sessions with teachers and NGO personnel. As the pdf is large, we have split it into modules for ease of downloading. Read more.

The Bernard van Leer Foundation is pleased to announce Ms. Lisa Jordan as the new Executive Director as of 13 July 2009. Read more (pdf).

The Bernard van Leer Foundation is today featured in the Financieel Dagblad. The article (in Dutch) deals with the challenges being faced by private foundations because of the ongoing financial crisis.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu will be guest of honour at foundation partner TREE’s celebration of 25 years of working in early childhood development in South Africa. The celebration is part of a practical symposium on “Mitigating the Impact of HIV and AIDS on Young Children”, from 3-5 August 2009.

A new foundation working paper, Developing programmes to promote ethnic diversity in early childhood: Lessons from Northern Ireland, looks at case studies from Northern Ireland to draw lessons on developing programmes to promote ethnic diversity in early childhood. The author, Paul Connolly, is a professor at Queen’s University Belfast and the founding Co-Director of the Joint Learning Initiative on Children and Ethnic Diversity.

The foundation is pleased to announce the inaugural 2009 Oscar van Leer Fellowships for journalists. See the press release (pdf) to find out more about who is eligible and how to apply.

Children, context and curriculum in multicultural education is a foundation-supported project discussed in the Spring 2009 issue of the Harvard Educational Review in an article by Zvi Bekerman of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Please note a subscription is required to view the full article.

Musharaka is a collective of five Arab early childhood organisations, representing a common vision across Israel for respecful inclusion of young Arab children into the country's systems of early childhood education and care. This evaluation report (pdf) assesses the impact of the educational resources produced and disseminated by the collective.

Foundation partner Salgulu last week held the second in a series of meetings among Peruvian NGOs entitled “Investment in Children: Key Factor for Poverty Eradication in the Country.” This initiative promotes the permanent inclusion of investment in children in the national social and public agenda. Read more (pdf).

"These are tense moments for the Hagar community, but we are confident that we will be able not only to deal with the tension but also eventually overcome it by educating a new generation of Jews and Arabs - a generation for whom violence is simply not an option." Read the latest from foundation partner Hagar (pdf).

Readers may be interested in this research report (pdf) into changes in attitudes and behaviour caused by the “Parents as Partners” project. Implemented by foundation partner the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development, the project worked with mothers and children in Bedouin villages in the Negev region of Israel.

The Adam Institute for Peace and Democracy have produced, with foundation support, a film entitled "The First Steps in Democracy".

"The most important fact is that we still manage to keep an atmosphere for discussion and debate." Read an open letter from Orly Almi, development director of Hagar: Jewish-Arab Education for Equality, on the experience of Jewish and Arab children returning to preschool after the war in Gaza.

The book Kinderschapsvorming was presented last November at a seminar hosted by our partner Stichting Child Care International, reported on in this article (in Dutch) in Beleid Bestuur Managements Pedagogiek in de Kinderopvang. The book focuses on young children and democratic citizenship.

Read the latest from Hand in Hand, including the impact of the war in Gaza on pupils in the Arab-Jewish schools, and a visit by UK foreign secretary David Miliband.

The Bernard van Leer Foundation's publications are now available through Search4Dev, an online library for digital publications of Dutch organizations in the international development cooperation sector. Funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Search4Dev is a collaborative venture that aims to reduce the gap between science, policy and development practice.

Read reflections from the Differences and Multicultural Institute on a project facilitator's role amid the war in Gaza.

"The current events in Gaza are heartbreaking. Nevertheless, we believe that, especially in extremely difficult times as the present one, it is crucial to show the determination and good will of Jews and Palestinians committed to dialogue - we do this through music rather than words, through culture rather than politics and through a deep appreciation for music as a common denominator while appreciating differences as an enriching element." Read more about the Beit Al-Musica initiative, a foundation grantee, here (pdf).

"These are days of trial, of pain, of violence and of war..." - read foundation partner NISPED's reflections on the current escalation of violence in Gaza. For brighter news from the region, watch this story of hope from Israel Broadcasting Corporation on another of NISPED's projects, the Arab-Bedouin Women's Catering Enterprise in Hura.

We are pleased to share the manual Building Resilience in Preschool Children, published by our partner the Israel Centre for the Treatment of Psychotrauma, in English and Arabic (pdf files). It includes general information about resilience and five chapters of suggested classroom activities.

A Nepali translation of the foundation's Working Paper number 39 - Young children, HIV/AIDS and gender: A summary review - has been produced by Sakriya Sath. Download it here (pdf, 0.5mb).

The government of Flanders has changed the access criteria for childcare, to favour more vulnerable families. Michel Vandenbroeck, of the University of Ghent and foundation partner VBJK, believes foundation-funded activities have contributed significantly to the climate which brought this change about.

The East Africa Clearing House on Childrens Rights and Welfare is now online, sharing research on children's matters in the region. The Bernard van Leer Foundation is among numerous partners who have collaborated with UNESCO's Nairobi Education Office to bring this resource into existence.

Featuring the contributions of academics and practitioners from around the world, the latest edition of the foundation's biannual journal, Early Childhood Matters, addresses the challenge of enhancing a sense of belonging in the early years

Foundation partner ANE invites your engagement in a conference to be held in Berlin next March 2-3, entitled Democratic Education in a New Europe – Challenges for Parents and Families. Read more about the conference here, and see also the minutes (pdf) of a networking meeting held last month involving various European organisations to lay the groundwork both for the conference and for a future network addressing the same topic.

The latest in our Practice and Reflections series shares experiences of the Parents and Diversity project, funded by the foundation and run by Bureau MUTANT, which looked at the Dutch childcare system in the context of cultural change. Order or download your free copy of Making the road as we go: Parents and professionals as partners managing diversity in early childhood education.

Download the presentation notes (pdf) of a talk entitled "Building resilience with teachers", given by Naomi Baum of foundation partner the Israel Centre for the Treatment of Psychotrauma to the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies conference earlier this month.

Read the latest news (in Dutch) about democratic citizenship education at the Basisschool in Utrecht through the foundation project Democratisch Burgerschap bij Jonge Kinderen.

"The future of mankind has its roots in the past, and only through understanding our history can we work together to create a better future for the generations to come": read a feature article (pdf) on foundation partner the Bible Lands Museum of Jerusalem, published recently in Essence magazine by Israel's Haaretz newspaper.

In our latest working paper, Alan Pence and Bame Nsamenang make A case for early childhood development in sub-Saharan Africa by critiquing the western-dominated international image of the child.

Israel's English-language Hamodia newspaper featured this look at the Learning Enrichment Centre recently opened by our partner Mercaz Beth Jabob.

Nilly Venezia, who runs foundation partner the Venezia Institute, has contributed a piece entitled "Dialogue between identities in a multicultural society - The case of Israel" to Identity, Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue, the proceedings of the 5th International Week of ESEC, the European Year of International Dialogue. Read Nilly's contribution, which focuses on sharing the personal stories of participants in Venezia Institute training programs, here (pdf).

The Canadian Star has a story on foundation partner Hand in Hand headlined "Love, tolerance go hand in hand at Israeli schools: Jewish and Arab students thriving in 11-year-old experiment in inter-ethnic accommodation".

Read the latest evaluation (pdf) of the Children-Friendly Kindergarten Program, run by the Center for the Advancement of Functional Capacities in Israel. The program is based on the Neuro-Developmental-Functional Approach, which aims to prevent functional development delays.

From 318 organisations considered, the foundation's partner Instituto da Infância (IFAN) won the Prêmio Criança 2008, awarded by the Abring Foundation to highlight experiences that enhance Brazilian children’s quality of life.

Read the latest news (in Dutch) from our partner DaalAdvies, responsible for the Samenspel project in the Netherlands.

Read the latest from Hand in Hand as the new school year begins for their mixed intakes of children from Jewish and Arab communities.

The Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem share thanks from President Bush for a copy of their book, Three Faces of Monotheism.

The Consultative Group on Early Childhood Development has released its latest Coordinators' Notebook (pdf), entitled Funding the Future: Strategies for Early Childhood Investment, Costing and Financing.

The latest edition of DECET's newsletter (pdf) is now available, including the latest from partners in France, Belgium, Ireland and Greece. DECET stands for Diversity in Early Childhood Education and Training.

Twelve researchers on peer relations between young children are currently meeting in Portugal under the auspices of the foundation's "Community of Reflection and Practice: The Social Lives of Young Children". Readers may be interested in their background thoughts for the meeting and biographical details (pdf).

The Financial Times recently ran a feature on the work of the Global Fund for Children, whose Under Eight initiative is supported by the foundation.

The latest in our web-only series of Online Outreach Papers is Valuing the learning: An annotated bibliography of the resources and publications of the Bernard van Leer Foundation and its partners in the area of Social Inclusion and Respect for Diversity (2002–2008).

It is increasingly well accepted that early childhood programmes bring benefits - but how to be precise in estimating the costs? In the latest in our web-only series of Online Outreach Papers, Costing early childhood care and development programmes, Robert G. Myers shows how official figures can fail to account for costs incurred by resource-poor parents.

We are pleased to share transcripts (pdf) of the talks at the recent annual conference of foundation partner the Centre for Advancement of Functional Capacities, which implements the Children Friendly Kindergartens project in Israel. The talks present the application of the program in the cities of Haifa, Rishon-LeZion and Netanya.

The foundation-supported Monduli Pastoralist Development Initiatives (MPDI) project featured recently in Tanzania's Daily News. The report discusses the challenges of making formal education accessible and attractive for pastoralist communities.

The Al-Tufula Centre, which works for Palestinian children in Israel, shares in a special issue of its newsletter (pdf) details of its 2008 Children's Festival, which attracted 1800 participants. The theme of the festival was "Traveling around the World", with Al-Tufula staff introducing children aged 3-8 to other countries, cultures and traditions.

Focusing especially on children from immigrant families and those with a low socio-economic status, the foundation's latest working paper - Fostering language acquisition in daycare settings: What does the research tell us? - addresses theories on language development and asks what research tells us about the effect of pre-schoolers’ social environment.

Now available for download (pdf) is the fourth in our web-only series of Online Outreach Papers. The social agenda and early childhood care and education: Can we really help create a better world? looks at the changing economic and cultural context of early childhood and identifies imperatives for policy and leadership.

"An amazing, enchanting world of excitement, creativity, games, sounds, laughter, sports and many more surprises await Jerusalem’s children at the early childhood enrichment center, a place that our children could only dream about until now" - Mercaz Beth Jacob provides this English translation (pdf) of a feature article run by Israeli newspaper Yated Ne'eman describing the Early Childhood Enrichment Centre built with foundation support.