If the Young Child is the center of our attention, we know that to be able to develop his/her full potential he/she needs 3 levels of support: the first focus for action is his/her family and community environment, the second is the availability of qualitative basic services to respond to his/her needs and rights and the third one is a political supportive environment. That is why The Third African International Conference on Early Childhood development was organized around three main themes:
- Ensuring effective caring practices within family and community;
- Ensuring access and use of quality basic services;
- Ensuring a supportive policy environment.
The report of the meeting highlight that “One result of the Accra meeting is expected to be increased political commitment to early childhood development in Africa that will facilitate accelerated action at country level and promote integration of ECD into other developmental processes like PRSPs, EFA, SWAPs and NEPAD planning” (Foreword).
All these themes have been developed by several researchers and implementers based in Africa and elsewhere and helped to assess the situation in the region and the basic key recommendations to go forward.
Attendance:
More than 300 participants, representing 35 African countries including 50 ministers from various sectors.