Early Childhood Education and Development (ECED) Task Team
Who we are
The ECED task team brings together key ECED actors (Governments, Regional Economic Communities, Development partners, Civil Society Organizations, Academia, private sectors and service providers) to strengthen partnerships and advocate for more and better investment in ECED, as well as ensure improved practice and accelerate early childhood and development outcomes in alcountries across West and Central Africa Region (WCAR). The overall goal is to contribute to achievement of the SDG target 4.2 “By 2030 ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.”
Its members include:
Co-leads: UNICEF, African Early Childhood Network (AfECN)
Members: UNESCO, UNESCO-IIPE, World Bank, Save the Children, GPE, CONFEMEN, RENADPE, TRECC/Jacobs Foundation, TOSTAN, World Vision, PLAN, OMEP, Aide et action, ADEA, ECOWAS, ECCAS
What we do
The ECED task team aims to:
Strengthen regional advocacy to advance ECED agenda in West and Central Africa Region (WCAR).
Contribute to generation and dissemination of knowledge for evidenced based ECED programming the region.
Provide technical support to regional and national policy dialogue and action in regard to early childhood development (ECD) in general and Early learning more specifically.
Promote systems approach in the design and delivery of quality, equitable and inclusive ECED programmes and services in the region.
Foster institutional and organizational collaborations including national ECD networking to better position the SD4.2 agenda across the countries in the region.
Strengthen community participation in the governance and management of the early childhood sub-sector
In order to reach these objectives, the task team develops activities around four main lines of action, i.e. advocacy, partnership, country technical support, evidence generation and Knowledge management around the following themes:
Undertake a regional study to identify bottlenecks in the design, implementation and financing of ECED policies and programmes in WCAR.
Intensify advocacy for critical issues including policy implementation, costing and financing, workforce development, childcare, ECED and climate change, improved multisectoral coordination.
Bridging the ECED subsector's "advocacy gap" within the education sector and sector planning processes.
Supporting ECED subsectors through institutional strengthening interventions including establishment and capacity strengthening of national ECD Networks.
Providing and developing practical tools for the creation of basic ECED standards that are contextualized in the WCAR.
Supporting and strengthening the ECED workforce, while aligning with the actions of the RCG4-WCA TALENT Task team.
Supporting local governments networks in West and Central Africa
