Moscow Framework for Action and Cooperation: Harnessing the Wealth of Nations

2010/ED/MOSCOW/ME/1 REV. 3 Original: English

WCECCE/4 RussianFederation,Moscow,September2010 Original:English

WorldConferenceon EarlyChildhoodCareandEducation(ECCE) BuildingtheWealthofNations

2729September2010 Moscow,theRussianFederation

MoscowFrameworkforActionand Cooperation
HarnessingtheWealthofNations

Moscow,29September2010

MoscowFrameworkforActionandCooperation
HarnessingtheWealthofNations PREAMBLE 1. We, Ministers, Heads of Delegations, representatives of UN agencies, development cooperation agencies, civil society organisations, education agents and experts express oursinceregratitudetotheGovernmentoftheRussianFederationforhavinghostedthe first World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education, and for their warm welcome,generoushospitalityandorganizationoftheConference. 2. WemetinMoscowfrom27to29September2010andreviewedchallengesandprogress made towards EFA Goal 1, in the particular context of Early Childhood Care and Education(ECCE)asasocial,humanandeconomicdevelopmentimperative.Weadopta broadandholisticconceptofECCEastheprovisionofcare,education,health,nutrition, andprotectionofchildrenagedzerotoeightyearsofage.ECCEisthereforearightand anindispensablefoundationforlifelonglearning.Itsprovenbenefitsaremanifold,and includebetterhealthandnutrition,improvededucationalefficiencyandgenderequity, greateremployabilityandearnings,andbetterqualityoflife. 3. We understand early childhood care and education must foster in children a spirit of peace, understanding, nondiscrimination and harmonious relation with nature, as enshrinedintheConventionontheRightsoftheChild.Werecognisetheintrinsicvalue ofchildhoodandchildrensinherentrightstoprovision,protectionandparticipation. 4. Webaseourconclusionsontheshared,butalsospecific,issues,challengesandcritical development trends identified during the Regional consultations (Declaration of Damascus, High Level Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education, Damascus, Syria, September 2010, Communiqu: A Call to Action, Fourth African International ConferenceonEarlyChildhoodDevelopment,Dakar,Senegal,November2009,Regional meetingonECCE,Chile,May2010)andinthespecialreportsthathavebeenproduced forthisconference. 5. WereaffirmourcommitmenttoECCEgoalexpressedinJomtien(1990)andDakar(2000) butweconcludethatEducationforAll(EFA)Goal1 ofexpandingEarlyChildhood Care andEducationisatgreatriskofnotbeingachievedby2015unlessurgentandresolute actionistaken.Wethereforereiterateourdeterminationtoacceleratetheachievement ofthisasaprerequisiteforreachingtheotherEFAgoals,theMillenniumDevelopment Goals(MDGs),thegoalsoftheUNDecadeofEducationforSustainableDevelopment,as wellasotherregionalandnationalagendasandpriorities.Wewelcomeandsupportthe factthatAfricahasdemonstratedaclearcommitmenttoECCEandhasprioritiseditinits SecondEducationDecade.
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THECHALLENGES 6. ECCE is part of the right to education and the main foundation for holistic human development.InadditionECCEisinstrumentalinpovertyeradicationandacriticalstage toseedfoundationforsustainabledevelopment.ECCEisaninvestmentinthewealthof nations.Thereisastrongknowledgebase;therearemodels,includingatnationallevels, ofhighqualityscalableprovision;thereisgoodevidencethatfamiliesandcommunities respondtohighqualityinitiatives;thereisknowledgeofhowtobuildcapacity.Butwe dofacechallenges. 7. ECCEpoliciesarenotalwayspartofnationalsocioeconomicdevelopmentplansanddo notreflectaholisticandintegratedapproach;theyareinsufficientlybackedbypolitical commitmentandarenotonascaletoreachallpartsofthepopulation.Inadequatecore public funding and low external support continue to impede sustained ECCE provision. Existing levels of integration, articulation and coordination of services, institutional weaknessesandpooroperationalframeworkslimittheeffectivenessofECCEprogramme delivery. 8. Lack of infrastructure, and persistence of cultural and poverty barriers deny access to ECCE to millions of marginalised children, including those living in occupied territories and conflict and disaster affected areas. The benefits of ECCE are put at risk by low quality and lack of inclusiveness of services. There is lack of reliable and timely informationontheprovisionofequitableholisticECCEservices. 9. Low capacity at multiple levels and among various stakeholders compromise ECCE programmes.Partnershipforprovisionisnotwhatitcouldbe,andthereisaneedtofor all partners to heighten their contribution to service provisionat the household/community level with civil society, the private sector, government and developmentpartners. 10. Toaddressthechallengesweneedtotakeadvantageoftheknowledgebaseandgood experiencesthatalreadyexist,anduniversalisethese.
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ACTIONAGENDA Wethuscalluponthegovernmentsto: 11. MobilizestrongercommitmenttoECCE i) Legislation,PoliciesandStrategies a) Develop legal frameworks and enforcement mechanisms that are conducive to theimplementationoftherightofchildrentoECCEfrombirth; b) AdoptandpromoteanapproachtoECCEthatisbothholisticandmultisectoral toensuregoodbirthoutcomes,(prenatalstage),neonatalhealthandnutritional wellbeing, care and education of the zero to eight, with a special focus on the zerotothreeagegroup; c) IntegrateECCEpoliciesintohumanandsocioeconomicdevelopmentpoliciesand thusasasharedresponsibilityacrosssectorsanddepartments,parents,families, communities,civilsocietyandtheprivatesector; d) Strikeanappropriatebalancebetweencentralisedanddecentralisedgovernance guaranteeing collaboration among all spheres with related responsibilities, level ofauthorityandresources; e) Strengthen political commitment through evidence based advocacy on the benefitsofECCEforhumandevelopment. ii)Accessandscalingup a) ScaleupECCEefforts,identifyingenablingfactorsineffectiveECCEprogrammes, withcarefulattentiontoflexibilityandadaptationtodiversecontextsandincome groups, particularly targeting the most disadvantaged and vulnerable, and promotingpartnershipswithstakeholdersatalllevels; b) Place a key emphasis on achieving good birth outcomes to mitigate poor outcomes for neonates through developing and expanding parenting programmestoorientfamiliesingoodECCEpractice,withparticularemphasison the03yearoldagegroup; c) DevelopaframeworktoimprovepathwaysforsuccessfultransitionswithinECCE andtoprimaryschooling. iii)Assessment,Research,MonitoringandEvaluation a) EnhancereliableandtimelyassessmentsofECCEservices; b) StrengthenandinstitutionalisemonitoringandevaluationofECCEprogrammesto guide sound policies through the provision of reliable, relevant and timely disaggregateddataforinformeddecisionmaking; c) Use locally relevant knowledge for informing policymaking, strengthen ECCE researchcapacitiesandcontributetoknowledgecreationacrossallregions.
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12. ReinforceeffectiveECCEprogrammedelivery i)EquityandInclusion a) Takeinnovativemeasurestoovercomeallformsofdiscriminationincompliance withallHumanRightsConventionsandmakequalityECCEprovisionavailableto childrenfrompooranddisadvantagedgroups,childrenwithdisabilities,aswellas to marginalized populations, those in emergency situations affected by conflict and disasters. Special attention should be devoted to overcoming gender discrimination(EFAgoal5); b) Value cultural and linguistic diversity, especially in regard to indigenous and minority languages, and encourage the use of familiar language in ECCE and provideadequateresourcesaspartofgoodteaching.Valuemultilingualismasan asset; c) Taketargetedmeasurestoputinplaceearlydetectioninterventionsforchildren athighriskofdevelopmentaldelaysanddisability. ii)Quality a) Empowerandstrengthenthecapacityofparents,familiesandserviceproviders, so that they can provide protective relationships, quality care and education to theyoungchild; b) Improve curriculum and methodology in tune with childhood, valuing play, affection,cooperation,talentandcreativity,joy,thefosteringofselfconfidence and autonomy, as well active learning pedagogies that take into account childrenspointofview; c) Focus on programme outcomes by adopting consistent assessment criteria and methodologies; d) ExploreandusethefullpotentialofICTtopromoteallaspectsofECCE; e) IncludeeducationforsustainabledevelopmentasacentralpartofqualityECCE; f) PutinplacehumanandmaterialconditionsrequiredtoachievequalityforECCE; committed valued and trained professionals, appropriate ECCE environments as wellascontextsensitivecurriculaandmaterials. iii)Capacitybuilding a) Developnewapproachesandmethodstobuildprofessionalcapacity,inareasof criticalimportancetoqualityimprovement; b) Improve and expand teacher training, accreditation and the professional developmentofECCEprofessionals; c) Increaseknowledgeofmedicalprofessionals,socialworkers,parents,caregivers andotherprofessionalsaboutchildrendevelopmentandhowtopromoteit. iv)Partnerships a) Proactively involve civil society and local communities in the policy debate, programme development, implementation, and monitoring of ECCE policies as wellasinguaranteeingtherespect,protectionandrealisationofchildrensrights; invitenationalinternationalorganizationstofacilitateandsupportnationalECCE policiesandprogrammes;
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b) Enhance, when appropriate and with the necessary regulations, resources through partnerships with the private sector. Encourage the regulatory, operationalandfinancingconvergencebetweentheseschemesandprogrammes ofdifferentministries,departmentsandagenciesofthegovernment; c) Pay close attention to parental voices and take steps to balance power relationshipsandfostercollaborationamongdifferentactorsofECCE. 13. HarnessresourcesforECCE a) Supporttheabovemeasuresbyincreasingbudgetallocationsbyallgovernment departments concerned with ECCE promotion, and mobilize diverse and innovativefinancingsourcesandmechanismsinsupportofECCE.Investasmuch asittakestomeetallrightstoECCEaccordingtosetqualitystandards; b) Increase targeted resources for programmes for 08 years old, with particular attentiontotheearlyyearsduetotheirimportanceforhumandevelopment; c) ConductandencouragefinanceanalysisofECCEprovisionsandservicedelivery. 14.Cooperation a) Identify specific aspects of ECCE programming for mutual cooperation and exchange; b) Call upon countries to work with UNESCO and other international organisations tomobilizeinternationaldonors. 15.WecalluponDonorsto: a) Honour their commitment to support all countries in achieving the EFA Goals, especiallyGoal1,withincreasedattentiontoqualityandrelevance; b) Align external funding with national needs in ECCE giving special priority to countrieslaggingbehind; c) ArticulateECCEtargetsintheirsectorplans,inlinewithgovernmentpriorities. 16.Further,wecalluponUNESCOto: a) Champion holistic ECCE globally based on the principles of childrens rights, in cooperationwithotheragencies; b) WorkcloselywithMemberStates,UNagencies,civilsociety,specialisedagencies, partnersandexpertstodevelopholisticintegratedECCEprogrammes,withdue attentiontothe03yearoldagegroup; c) In consultation with Member State and other organisations, to establish a workinggrouptoexplorethedevelopmentofaninstrumentcapableoftracking progresstowardsEFAgoal1,withparticularattentiontoqualityandtheholistic aspectsofECCE; d) PromoteECCEinvestmentsthroughthecorporateandbusinesssectorworldwide. Collect and disseminate good practice and lessons learned from experience, in particularthosedemonstratingthemultipleanddiversebenefitsofECCE;
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e) Support the creation of ECCE networking at the national, regional and internationallevelandlevelwithrelatedclearinghouseservices; f) Intensify efforts aimed at developing affordable, readily available and user friendlytoolsandmodelsforassessingchilddevelopment.