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

■ Increase participation of adolescents and parents
in education programmes concerning
early childhood care for survival, growth, and
development.
The first step toward desired outcomes is to
work with those countries that have selected
ECC-SGD as a priority. Nine countries have
been identified for piloting an integrated approach
(Turkey, Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka,
Jordan, Jamaica, Malawi, Côte d’Ivoire and
Peru). These countries are to participate in the
development of the new approach and in tryout
activities to generate greater convergence, as
well as to learn from the initiative and offer information
for UNICEF policy beyond the year
2000.
To launch the effort, UNICEF organised an
<strong>ECCD</strong> Programming Strategy Workshop in
Ankara Turkey, 14–16 October 1998. Recognising
that many country programmes are already
involved in innovative and successful initiatives
which support child survival growth and development,
the Ankara workshop explored the concrete
measures needed to combine best practices
to generate even better results for children.
The strategy development workshop was primarily
for participants from the nine countries,
but there were participants from other countries
that have indicated <strong>ECCD</strong> as a priority in their
1998-2000 programme. During the Workshop
participants learned about current programming
in the nine pilot countries, and presentations
were given on issues related to integrated early
childhood programming by resource people,
and the participants had an opportunity to explore
what it would mean to develop integrated
ECC-SGD programmes in their countries. The
Workshop also provided an opportunity for
UNICEF staff to learn about the activities of
other major partners (the World Bank and
WHO) in <strong>ECCD</strong>.
UNESCO Partnerships
Programme
To strengthen regional efforts in favour of early
childhood and family education, UNESCO has
decided to establish a UNESCO Early Childhood
Partnerships Programme. The Programme will seek
to develop and foster inter-regional, regional,
sub-regional, and national networks of institutions,
organisations, and centres which support
and promote early childhood and family education.
The purpose of this programme will be to
encourage the generation, exchange and sharing
of regionally valid information and experiences
in early childhood and family education. It will
be concerned with policy, capacity building,
support systems, and the content of early childhood
and family education, and it will also encompass
research and development activities,
provision of training and technical assistance,
and documentation and dissemination of information.
Goals of the Programme
■ Focus efforts on child development/survival,
early childhood care and education services,
early child development and education, family
education, and the mobilisation of both
modern and traditional resources to improve
young children’s abilities and well-being.
■ Foster a world-wide Interchild Network of cooperating
institutions, major early childhood
organisations, documentation centres and services
for inter-regional knowledge generation
and exchange of experience, and facilitate inter-institutional
collaboration.
■ Support UNESCO’s decentralisation process
by strengthening regional networking and
fostering the sustainable capacity development
of regional institutions.
■ Reflect the diverse needs of the area of early
childhood by advocating integrated and multi-disciplinary
approaches to early childhood
and family education programmes and services.
■ Assist developing countries in strengthening
their capacities for high level training and research
through joint programmes geared towards
reinforcing or creating policy, training
and research activities in the area of early
childhood.
■ Plan and promote national, regional, and international
co-operative ventures and networking
activities designed to increase the
health, self-esteem, and learning capacities of
young children and improve the skills of families
and communities.
Expected Outcomes Include:
■ the formation of stratified regional task forces
that consist of funding agencies, regional institutions
of excellence, and national think
tanks;
■ the development of links with major funding
agencies to develop co-operative programmes
in the different regions;
■ the laying of the groundwork for sustainable
and substantiated regional UNESCO Early
Childhood and Family education programmes;
■ the reinforcement or building of networks of
professionals or institutions in the fields of
early childhood and family education;
■ the enhancement of networking as a means of
continuously scanning the field, eliciting new
<strong>ECCD</strong> Initiatives COORDINATORS’ NOTEBOOK, ISSUE 22
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