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very young daughter. It was her husband’s bright idea for Lavado to take her daughter with her to Armenia, her mom to take care of her daughter, and her sister to take care of her mom.
The family caravan turned out to be not only a solution to a practical problem but also the spark of an idea for how to successfully structure the project.
Good human capital development ensures that every child born today is able to
reach their full potential by the time they grow up. For Armenia, this is crucial: the country only has 2.97 million people, the population is aging fast, and population growth is negative. “Every child born in Armenia has to reach their full potential to fully maximize their life and contribute to society,” explains Lavado.
As she watched her daughter at play, Lavado realized that she had been conducting a mini human capital development project of her own. From the moment she was pregnant, she ensured she got the best medical care she could nd, with seamless coordination between the antenatal clinic and the hospital where she delivered. The search for the best preschool for her daughter took up its own Excel spreadsheet, weighing up the pros and cons to ensure her daughter had the best educational start.
“After all, I knew that preschool education has one of the highest returns of investment in child development,” she says. “And throughout her young life, of course, we have had to make sure she survives. She always has her seat belt on and the car seat is well placed. We keep her away from pollutants and tobacco smoke so she doesn’t get sick from respiratory illnesses.”
These observations led to a number of key components in the human capital development project for Armenia, such as an amendment in the law to introduce ways to make the quality of healthcare better. The project also made headway in introducing a law to increase access to preschool in rural areas, and to increase the role of the government as a steward of public health with better seat belt and tobacco control laws.
For Lavado, the project entailed working with a lot of colleagues in ADB. It turned out to be challenging during the project preparation stage because people are used to staying in their own siloes, both in ADB and on the government counterpart side. But with patience and persistence, Lavado got everyone on board eventually. She even got them on board in time to hit the deadline set by the Armenia government when they set her the challenge at the start of the year.
“Just as it takes a village to raise my daughter, so it also takes a whole lot of ADB to build a human capital project.
A combination of everything has much bigger impact. I believe we are here at ADB because we want to make a di erence in people’s lives. I encourage you, whatever sector you are in, to come work with
me as we develop human capital. Let us make a change in the future of the next generation.”
Watch Rose Lavado’s talk at the 2020 ADB Innovation Fair Trailer / Full talk
Find out more:
Armenia: Human Development Enhancement Program https://www.adb.org/projects/51129-002/ main
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