Excerpt:
We thus call upon the governments to:
Mobilize stronger commitment to ECCE
i) Legislation, policies and strategies
a) Develop legal frameworks and enforcement mechanisms that are conducive to the implementation of the right of children to ECCE from birth;
b) Adopt and promote an approach to ECCE that is both holistic and multi-sectoral to ensure good birth outcomes, (prenatal stage), neonatal health and nutritional well-being, care and education of the zero to eight, with a special focus on the zero to three age group;
c) Integrate ECCE policies into human and socio-economic development policies and thus as a shared responsibility across sectors and departments, parents, families, communities, civil society and the private sector;
d) Strike an appropriate balance between centralized and decentralized governance guaranteeing collaboration among all spheres with related responsibilities, level of authority and resources;
e) Strengthen political commitment through evidence- based advocacy on the benefits of ECCE for human development.
ii) Access and scaling up
a) Scale up ECCE efforts, identifying enabling factors in effective ECCE programmes, with careful attention to flexibility and adaptation to diverse contexts and income groups, particularly targeting the most disadvantaged and vulnerable, and promoting partnerships with stakeholders at all levels;
b) Place a key emphasis on achieving good birth outcomes to mitigate poor outcomes for neonates through developing parenting programs to orient families in good ECCE practice, with particular emphasis on the 0-3 year old age group;
c) Develop a framework to improve pathways for successful transitions within ECCE and to primary schooling.