Prudential Thailand and Prudence Foundation Announces Partnership with UNICEF to Support Early Childhood Development in Thailand

March 23, 2023 / News

Prudential Thailand and Prudence Foundation Announces Partnership with UNICEF to Support Early Childhood Development in Thailand

Encouraging healthy development in all aspects of early childhood: the most important time to lay a solid foundation for Thai children

BANGKOK, 23 March 2023 – Prudential Thailand, one of the leading life insurance companies, and Prudence Foundation, the Prudential Group’s community investment arm, today announced a new partnership with UNICEF Thailand to raise awareness on the importance of early childhood development (ECD) and promote the quality of ECD services for young children in Thailand.

Children up to six years of age should receive special care to support their wellbeing, including emotional, social, intellectual, and physical development. Since young brains develop quickly and grow faster, they are able to learn and remember more information when compared to older ones^[1], making it the first step in building a foundation for children’s future development. It is hoped that, through this partnership, Thai society will gain a deeper understanding on the importance of early childhood development through the 18-month Nurturing Care Framework (NCF) project.

Mr. Bundit Jiamanukoonkit, Chief Executive Officer of Prudential Life Assurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited or Prudential Thailand said, “Prudential Thailand’s mission is to be an insurance company that helps Thai people get the most out of life and ensure that nobody is left behind.

“Together with Prudence Foundation and UNICEF Thailand, a UN agency that has been helping children in Thailand for 75 years, we aim to promote and raise awareness in Thailand on ECD for children aged up to six years old. We are honored to be a part of this partnership in fostering and laying the foundation for the future generations of this country that will go on build a stronger Thai society. Prudential Thailand is ready to utilize our business network and alliances to work alongside UNICEF on raising awareness in Thailand to support ECD, which is regarded as the first step towards future success,” he added.

The Prudence Foundation, a community investment arm of Prudential Group in Asia and Africa has been funding the project and working with UNICEF since last year to conduct rapid country assessments on Nurturing Care ECD services in four countries: Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, which has helped develop a roadmap for early childhood development.

“At Prudence Foundation, we aim to create a better future for our communities by building community resilience against life’s risks. Every child deserves the chance to grow, develop, learn, and go on to fulfill their potential. Through the partnership with UNICEF, we aim to help Thai children reach their full potential by giving them the best start in life”, said Marc Fancy, Executive Director of Prudence Foundation.

“Health, nurturing care, protection, and stimulation – are fundamentals that shape a child’s brain and development. And today’s children shape the development of the societies of tomorrow. Early childhood development is central to UNICEF’s work in Thailand. We collaborate with partners across all sectors to push forward the investments, policies, and programmes which benefit children in those crucial years, especially the most marginalized. Reducing poverty and inequality is possible only if we close the gap early on starting with brain development. Today I am very happy to sign a partnership with Prudence Foundation and Prudential in Thailand that will ensure that more parents and caregivers have access to resources, services, and knowledge they need to give their children the best start in life.” said Kyungsun Kim, UNICEF Representative for Thailand.

Because of its critical importance in human development, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have set a global ECD target aiming to ensure that all children have access to quality early childhood development, care, and pre-primary education by 2030.

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About Prudential in Thailand

Prudential has operated in Thailand for over 26 years through Prudential Life Assurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited. Prudential serves more than 1.8 million customers in Thailand and manages more than Thai Baht 116 billion assets on their behalf. In 2021, the Thailand business grew IFRS operating profits and APE by 15 percent to USD 236 million and USD 218 million, accordingly. (31 December 2021 figures).

ABOUT UNICEF

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone.

About Prudence Foundation

Prudence Foundation is the community investment arm of Prudential plc in Asia and Africa. Its mission is to create a better future for communities by making them safer and more resilient to life’s risks. The Foundation runs regional programmes as well as local programmes in partnership with NGOs, governments and the private sector in order to maximise the impact of its efforts. Prudence Foundation leverages Prudential’s long-term mindset and geographical scale to make communities safer, more secure and more resilient. The Foundation is a Hong Kong registered charitable entity. For more information please visit: www.prudencefoundation.com

For information or images about the press release, please contact:

Prudential Life Assurance (Thailand) PCL Total Quality PR (Thailand)

Chayanit Hongskul Jidapa Parry

Email: Chayanit.Hongskul@prudential.co.th Email: mint@tqpr.com

Tel: 02-352-8079 Tel: 02-260-5820 ext. 113