A global call to action for early childhood

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62 REGIONAL REPORT: International Step by Step Association Ideas: Crossing Borders,” in Prague from August 29 to September 1, 2007. The event provided a rare opportunity for researchers and practitioners from East and West to engage in a dialogue exploring convergences and divergences in the understanding and application of Vygotsky’s work to policy, research, and practice today. The 2008 ISSA Conference, “Active Citizenship: Democratic Practices in Education,” organised jointly with the WFF, will explore the understanding of democracy in the early years and will underline the importance of advocacy for democratic practices in ECE. Panels will look at what the promotion of democracy means for practice and for advocacy/policy, highlighting global and regional advocacy priorities. The 2008 Conference is scheduled for October 9-12, 2008 in Budapest. For more information, contact: Liana Ghent Executive Director International Step by Step Association E-mail: lghent@issa.nl Website: http://www.issa.nl REGIONAL REPORT: ADEA Working Group on ECD Report: ADEA Working Group on ECD The Association for the Development of Education in Africa’s Working Group on ECD (WGECD/ ADEA), established in 1993, has been operational as a network since 1997. Its aim is to influence policy around the development of the young child and thereby contribute to expanding and improving sustainable and appropriate ECD provision in Africa. Its overall objective is to work as a catalyst and facilitator in the Sub-Saharan Africa region to promote a coherent and coordinated response to the challenges facing ECD in that part of the world. Much progress has been made overall in Africa since 1997. Several African countries have developed ECD policies and implemented a number of effective programmes with donor and international support. With the increasing realisation that cost-effective ECD interventions can reduce the long-term costs of not investing in ECD, there is a challenge to continue to work towards increasing access to quality ECD interventions, especially by the most vulnerable. The 2007 Global Monitoring Report, Strong Foundations: Early Childhood Care and Education (summarised in this issue of The Coordinators’ Notebook), highlighted the fact that millions of children in Sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to the care programmes, basic immunisation, clean water, adequate food, and early stimulation that are needed for their survival, growth, and development. In response, the WGECD/ADEA has developed, with its members and partners, a Regional Framework/Plan of Action for 2006-10. The Work Plan’s main strategies include: • Advocacy at the political level, including heads of state, regional political bodies in the US, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) • A regional communication strategy • Networking and partnership building • Capacity building • National policy support In conjunction with this approach the 2008 Work Plan will be structured around the Consultative Group’s 4 Cornerstones to Secure a Strong Foundation for Young Children: (1) Start at the beginning; (2) Get ready for success; (3) Improve primary school quality; and (4) Include early childhood in policies. In the past few years, the Working Group has focused mainly on Cornerstone 4, supporting countries in the process of elaborating national policies and policy frameworks. 1 However, other work undertaken by the Working Group in past years can also be articulated in terms of the 4 Cornerstones. Cornerstone 1: Start at the beginning Cornerstone 1 calls for a focus on parenting programmes and integrated services. The Working Group’s Regional Framework, Strategy 4.1 includes support for parental education and functional adult literacy programmes, “ensuring ECD contents and messages.” Cornerstone 2: Get ready for success Cornerstone 2 calls for access to at least two years of ECD services prior to formal school entry for the most disadvantaged. In relation to the Sub-Saharan Africa context, this cornerstone is translated in the Regional Framework’s Strategy 4.5 COORDINATORS’ NOTEBOOK: ISSUE 29
REGIONAL REPORT: ADEA Working Group on ECD 63 as “supporting scaling up for IECD programmes.” Cornerstone 3: Improve primary school quality Cornerstone 3 calls for increased investments and a focus on teacher training, whereas Strategy 4.2 of the Working Group’s Regional Framework is to support capacity building at the national level and to work with partners on initiatives such as the Early Childhood Virtual University (ECDVU. org), African Virtual University, and the UNESCO initiative of mapping universities that deliver ECD programmes by distance, as well as all African universities delivering ECD programmes. Cornerstone 4: Include early childhood in policies Three strategies of the Regional Framework are directly linked to Cornerstone 4: Strategy 1—advocacy for ECD at the political level; Strategy 2—a regional communication strategy directed at high-level decision makers (in collaboration with the Consultative Group); and Strategy 5—supporting multisectoral coordination for ECD. Strategy 5.1 specifically calls for “supporting the process of national ECD policy/policy framework, costing exercises, and planning.” Future work of WGECD/ADEA will reinforce the assets and results of this joint work at national and regional levels. Cross-cutting issues Other strategies employed by the Working Group are cross cutting the ones described above. These include Strategy 3 of the Regional Framework—networking and partnership building (in particular, strengthening the national networks, facilitating exchanges of information and experiences); Strategy 4.3—supporting a gender perspective in ECD objectives and implementation; and Strategy 4.4—supporting HIV/AIDS prevention and management in ECD programmes. An African institutional base The Working Group has been coordinated by the Chair of the WGECD from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the lead agency for the WG since 1998. The Chair is currently located in Mozambique, assisted by a consultant based in Ghana. With the increasing responsibility of the Working Group as the lead catalyst for ECD in Africa, and with the expansion of ECD activities 2006-2010 Regional Framework/Plan of Action • Political Advocacy • Development of a Regional Communication Strategy • Networking and Partnership Building • Capacity Building • National Policy Support in the region in the last three years, it became necessary to engage a second consultant on a part-time basis. The team has constituted a “virtual Secretariat” since 2006. Central in 2008 is the proposed transfer from the current set-up of the Working Group to an All Africa network for ECD with the establishment of an administrative base in Africa in an agency that deals with ECD issues and can take on administrative responsibilities (including dealing with funds). The Steering Committee has chosen Save The Children USA in Nairobi for this role. To strengthen the WG Steering Committee and ensure linkages with the political agenda, it is also proposed that the next Chair will be UNESCO Breda, based in Dakar. This would ensure the political leverage of the Working Group, as well as coverage of both East/Southern and West/Central Africa and the two major languages, French and English. Next steps The first National Focal Points meeting in summer 2008 will allow us to continue the work of the November 2007 WG Steering Committee meeting in adapting the Consultative Group’s 4 Cornerstones to the Sub-Saharan Africa context, based on national and regional expertise. This coordination with a global network will assist us in moving forward. For more information, contact: Ms. Stella Etse WGECD Coordinator c/o UNICEF – United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF House 4 – 8 Rangoon Close P.O. Box AN 5051 Accra North, Ghana E-mail: wgecdafrica@gmail.com Website: http://www.ecdafrica.com, http://www.adeanet.org 1 These activities include supporting a costing exercise for Burkina Faso and The Gambia in collaboration with the World Bank and Alain Mingat; organising a special session on ECD in the 2006 ADEA Biennale on Education in Africa; contributing to the preparation of the 2007 EFA Global Monitoring Report on ECD; supporting the regional (SSA) launch of the report; publishing a study “Investing in ECD: Benefits, Savings and Financing Options” (by K. Hyde); and disseminating the report of the Ghana African/International Conference in 2005. COORDINATORS’ NOTEBOOK: ISSUE 29
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A global call to action for early childhood

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