Inclusive ECCD: - Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and ...

<strong>ECCD</strong> Initiatives COORDINATORS’ NOTEBOOK, ISSUE 22
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either now or later, in arriving at a hierarchical
structure in which they have identified the “best”
or the “most” effective approach. The goal is to
deepen understanding of what works within
diverse contexts, and what commonalties can be
found across cultures and contexts.
The framework
There are two goals in working with each of
the projects. The first goal is to ensure that the
projects’ questions about their own effectiveness
in terms of outcomes and processes can be answered.
The second goal is to identify questions
that will be asked across all projects, permitting
an across-site analysis rather than simply an aggregation
of case studies.
To allow for the across-site analysis we are
going to begin with a set of overlapping “maps”
that can be used to describe a project. These
maps represent different “cuts” or ways of looking
at a project. We will begin with these as a
way of organising data, recognising that the
maps may well change or be dropped, while
others could be added.
It is recognised that in order for people to be
able to work with these conceptual “cuts” it is
necessary to generate a set of questions that
might be used to illustrate the kinds of information
that can be gathered in relation to each of
the maps. Thus initially there will be a Mapping
Activity. The mapping activity will consist of
creating a timeline for the project, along which
the story of the project will be told.
The basic strategy is to create a team of four
to five members to work with each project. Each
team will include a mix of individuals, and there
will be some overlapping members (i.e., people
who serve on more than one team). To provide
guidance to the overall effort, an Advisory Committee
has been created. Members of the Advisory
Committee will take the lead on one or two
of the projects as well as provide oversight as the
Effectiveness Initiative is developed and implemented.
The Advisory Committee includes staff
from international organisations, individuals
drawn from <strong>ECCD</strong>-related fields, and Bernard
van Leer Foundation staff.
Early Childhood Care
for Survival, Growth, and
Development (ECC-SGD):
UNICEF’s renewed commitment
to young children
UNICEF has a global mandate for children. Its
mission requires that development and implementation
of programmes are shaped and guided
by the Convention on the Rights of the Child
(CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination
of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
UNICEF’s first priority in any country must
be to ensure that the survival, growth, and development
of the young child gets first call on
UNICEF’s resources and commands the necessary
share of existing and potential national resources.
These resources must go toward
programming that results in the convergence
of efforts at the policy and planning levels, the
implementation of social services and the development
of comprehensive and strategicallyfocused
support to poor families and communities.
UNICEF’s efforts must give greatest priority
to the most vulnerable and at risk populations.
This is being done through the Early Childhood
Care for Survival Growth and Development
(ECC-SGD) Programme, an integrated approach
to UNICEF programming for young
children ages 0–8. Through the ECC-SGD approach,
early childhood care is seen as resulting
in meeting the survival, growth and development
needs of the child. UNICEF programming
addresses those needs through health, nutrition,
water and sanitation, and education, however,
no single programme meets the full spectrum of
a child’s needs. In recognition of this, the rights
based approach to programming calls for greater
convergence of activities for children, thereby
creating the synergy that is needed to produce
the best results for children’s full development.
The Specific Short-term Targets for
UNICEF’s ECC-SGD Programme (2005)
are to:
■ Ensure that all countries have comprehensive
and multi-sectoral family and child development
policies (with resource commitments to
support them).
■ Ensure that comprehensive and integrated
programmes for early childhood care for survival,
growth, and development are
fully implemented in at least 40 developing
countries, giving special attention to countries
that are severely affected by HIV/AIDS.
These programmes should be child-centred,
family-focused, community-based, and gender
sensitive.
■ Ensure that in all counties where UNICEF is
operational efforts are advancing to create
convergences in child health, nutrition, education,
and water and sanitation activities
necessary for early child development to occur.
Specific process indicators will be developed
to measure this progress.
■ Increase access to good quality familybased
and centre-based early childhood care
programmes.