Save the Children began implementing Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) programs in Nepal in 1997 to help children learn and develop their full potential. Recently, Save the Children developed the International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) tool, designed to measure ECCD children's developmental outcomes.

Research Inputs and Development Action (RIDA) supported Save the Children to conduct this baseline study using the IDELA tool in Nepal's Saptari district during June - August 2016, with the objective to find out the status of children’s early learning and development outcomes in the district by program (program and non-program), sex (boy & girl), and caste/ethnic groups, and to find out the status of caregiving practices in the Saptari district.