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How can we transform Early Childhood Care and Education in Eastern Africa?
Despite commendable efforts, 70% of children in Eastern and Southern Africa lack access to quality Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) (UNICEF, 2023), facing barriers such as inequity, policy gaps, and financial constraints.
Acknowledging this pressing need in Eastern Africa, UNESCO reintroduced the Tashkent Declaration at the Eastern Africa Regional Early Childhood Conference (EARC2024) to ensure stakeholders’ efforts and commitments to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.2.
The Tashkent Declaration and Commitments for Transforming Early Childhood Care and Education (“The Tashkent Declaration”) adopted at the World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education (WCECCE), organized by UNESCO in November 2022, put spotlight onto SDG 4.2 on ensuring that “by 2030, all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education…”
Representatives from the national governments of Eritrea and Kenya, Africa Early Childhood Network, and UNICEF attended the session, assessing progress and challenges in achieving the goals outlined in the Tashkent Declaration.
The learning session examined achievements, promising practices, and gaps in fulfilling the Tashkent Declaration, emphasizing the development of inclusive ECCE services and professional training for educators. Ms. Abeba Habtom, Head of Early Childhood Care and Education unit at the Ministry of Education of Eritrea, presented the country’s efforts to foster inclusive school environments for children with disabilities.
Additionally, Dr. Elyas Abdi, OGW, Director General of Education State Department for Basic Education, Ministry of Education, Kenya, highlighted the importance of collecting both quantity and quality of data to inform decision-making and policy formulation effectively.
We need not only quantity but also quality of data to ensure that all aspects of ECCE are addressed.
UNICEF Regional Deputy Director for Eastern and Southern Africa recommended engaging literate and digitally savvy youth in ECCE, professionalizing young mothers and men, raising knowledge among males in childcare services, breaking gender norms, and combating unemployment.
It’s nice to see different models, what are working, why they are working, and what makes sense, and what are the contexts. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but it’s nice to have a menu of options.
UNESCO is committed to supporting Member States in fulfilling their commitments. To this end, UNESCO has developed a range of follow-up plans, including the creation of monitoring frameworks, readiness assessment tools, biennial global reports, and an Online Compendium of promising practices.
