1 AFRICA EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE Rationale, Update, and Workshop Overview Michelle J. Neuman, Ph.D. Zanzibar - October 26, 2009.

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AFRICA EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE

Rationale, Update, and Workshop Overview

Michelle J. Neuman, Ph.D.Zanzibar - October 26, 2009

What is ECCD?

Support for young children’s survival, growth, development and learning including health, nutrition, nurturing care and stimulation

Prenatal to age 8: the most important developmental phase in human lifespan

A diverse field: settings…homes, schools, community-based… providers…public, private, non-profit… activities…care, nutrition, parent education… ages...prenatal, 0-2, 3-5, 6-8… agencies…education, health, gender, social…

Children can thrive in many different kinds of environments.

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Why is ECCD important?

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

2. Achieve universal primary education

3. Promote gender equality and empower women

4. Reduce child mortality, and other health goals

1. Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children

2. Universal primary education by 2015

3. Learning and life skills programs for youth and adults

4. 50% increase in adult literacy rates by 2015

5. Gender parity by 2005 and gender equality by 2015

6. Improving quality of education

MDGsEFA Goals

Young children in Africa are vulnerable

High under-5 mortality rates (176 per 1000), most from preventable diseases

40% of children under age 5 are moderately or severely stunted

71 million children (61% of children under age 5) do not reach their full potential due to poverty and poor health, nutrition, and care

Children in emergency, conflict and post-conflict situations highly vulnerable

Children often begin school late, repeat grades, drop out early, and perform poorly. 38 million children are out of school

HIGH QUALITY ECCD PROGRAMS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

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5

0 1 4 8 12 16

AGE

SensingPathways

(vision, hearing)

LanguageHigherCognitive Function

3 6 9-3-6

Months Years

C. Nelson, in From Neurons to Neighborhoods, 2000

Con

cep t

i on

Early years are a window of opportunity

Quality ECD improves education outcomes

Better access to primary school

Lower retention in primary school

Improved gender equity in education

Lower repetition rates

Better language development

Higher achievement in education

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Source: Heckman & Carneiro (2003) Human Capital Policy

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…but Africa lags behind in pre-primary enrolment

Developed/transition countries

Latin America/Caribbean

East Asia/Pacific

South and West Asia

Arab States

Sub-Saharan Africa

Regional GER is 14% vs. 40% globally

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1999 2004

Gro

ss e

nro

lmen

t ra

tio

in p

re-p

rim

ary

(%

)

Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2007

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Note: Mali and Zambia figures for pre-school are gross enrollment ratiosSource: Global Education Digest, 2008

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Equity: Poverty limits access to ECCD

0 20 40 60 80

Niger

D. R. Congo

U. R. Tanzania

Lao PDR

Tajikistan

Uganda

Rwanda

Senegal

Egypt

Bolivia

Myanmar

Azerbaijan

Madagascar

Sierra Leone

Philippines

Cameroon

Kenya

Nicaragua

Mongolia

Haiti

Lesotho

India

Venezuela

Viet Nam

Colombia

Trinidad/Tobago

Attendance rates (%)

Poorer households

Richer households

Higher attendance for children from

richer households

Lower attendance among poor who

would benefit most

Other factors that limit access:- Lack of mother’s secondary education

- Living in rural households

- Lack of birth certificate

Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2007

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Improve quality Promote school readiness

o The quality of interaction between carer and child is the single most important determinant of program success

Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2007

Promoting school readiness also means making schools ready for children

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A holistic approach is important

Young children have multiple needs for:

Nurturing parenting, strong family and community support Early stimulation and developmental activities Preventive and primary health and nutrition Safety/protection Clean water, home and community environment

o Iron, nutrition, deworming and psycho-social stimulation positive impact on learning

o Combining nutrition and early stimulation has larger and longer-lasting impact children’s health and learning than either alone

Purposes of the Africa ECCD Initiative

1. Improve the capacity of African countries to attain EFA Goals and MDGs by laying a strong foundation, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.

2. Increase understanding among stakeholders of the importance of children’s early development and learning as a key ingredient in achieving EFA goals.

3. Foster the scaling up of ECCD policies and programs by helping countries obtain sustainable funding for cost-effective approaches.

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Strategy: Mainstreaming ECD into EFA-FTI

“Fast Track Initiative” = global partnership to accelerate progress towards universal completion of quality primary education by 2015

One country, one education strategy, one process Ed Sector Plan

Covering the whole sector Realistic and Sustainable Linked to the overall Poverty Reduction Strategy

Two sources of technical and financial support:

Education Program Development Fund (EPDF)

Catalytic Fund (CF)

ECD is essential ingredient for achieving universal primary completion!

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Main Components: 2009-2010

1. Develop ECCD programs in at least 8 countries by providing country-level analytical support

2. Exchange ECCD policy and program experiences regionally

Technical workshop for 8 country teams (October 2009)

4th African international conference with ADEA WGECD (Nov 2009)

3. Build capacity of emerging leaders:

ECDVU 3rd cohort launched in February: Cameroon, The Gambia, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia

New nutrition virtual university to be launched in fall 2009

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Eight Countries Selected: 2009

Guinea Liberia Mali Niger

Nigeria Senegal Tanzania/Zanzibar Zambia

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Scope of country EPDF support Work with country teams and development partners to

design and implement strong ECD components in education sector programs (and related policies and plans)

Activities vary according to local needs and priorities: Analytical/technical support for ESP development Capacity-development for implementation Monitoring, evaluation, and knowledge-sharing

Workshop objectives

To provide a forum for high-level ECCD officials to:

1. Exchange ideas, experiences, and lessons learned to date

2. Receive technical support to strengthen results

3. Learn about new cost-effective, contextually-appropriate approaches for going to scale

4. Develop concrete strategies for going to scale in their own countries (briefing memo and presentation).

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Workshop organization and outputs

Panel Sessions

Cross-Country Dialogue Sessions 

Country Team Clinics briefing memo and presentation

brief ministers and other officials who will attend Dakar conference inform ECCD policy and program implementation within EFA-FTI mobilize support from local development partners.

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