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

made recommendations regarding a revision of Facts for Life. The
Pakistan meeting was followed by a meeting at Wye College in Kent,
England in April. At that meeting, researchers who have been exploring
early development and its impact on later development were brought
together to decide what key messages research can provide us about
the impact of early experiences on later life. Subsequent to the Wye meeting
there was a series of meetings at UNICEF New York to further develop the
<strong>ECCD</strong> framework. The Technical Working <strong>Group</strong> on <strong>ECCD</strong> developed
a statement in September 1998 which frames their recommendation.
A further description of the UNICEF early childhood strategy
can be found on page 52, within our coverage of international and inter-agency
<strong>ECCD</strong> initiatives.
UNESCO
UNESCO Early Childhood
Partnerships Programme
UNESCO is developing collaborative relationships with regional
institutions for the purpose of capacity building. The main idea is to
link, at the regional level, at least one sponsor, an already existing
organization, a regional partner, and a national partner or partners in
the countries making up the region. This initiative is very much in line with
what we at the <strong>Consultative</strong> <strong>Group</strong> have been promoting in terms of regional networking.
The UNESCO Early Childhood Partnerships Programme is
designed to help strengthen the regionalization process. In undertaking
this initiative UNESCO is contributing to the work of the CG by
having Regional Members of the <strong>Consultative</strong> <strong>Group</strong> Secretariat
serve as their partner/focal point for that region. See page 53 for a
description of this effort.
UNESCO early childhood
action research
UNESCO co-organized an International Consultation on Culture,
Childhood and Early Childhood Education (October 1–3, 1998) to
explore the place of cultural dimensions within early childhood education
systems and services. It was attended by some 17 participants
coming mainly from universities in France, Morocco, Denmark, Mali,
Japan, Germany, USA, the Netherlands. The consultation was conceived
as a working session, as all participants had prepared papers
which had been distributed several weeks earlier so that during the
meeting there could be a real dialogue and exchange, and an attempt
to come to a common understanding of issues.
UNESCO will be publishing the report of this meeting in early spring
1999. Topics were quite varied and included such things as: cultural
contexts and early childhood programming; education for the
improvement of cultural participation; early childhood professionalism
and multi-perspective pedagogy; trends of preschool education in a changing
Japanese society; appearance of literacy in early childhood education;
and using cross-cultural research to question taken-for-granted beliefs.
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