MMERA MPOYAMBA

AN ADVOCACY AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGY FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT IN MALAWI

The Government of Malawi

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements 1 Foreword 2 Justification and Rationale 3 Goal 4 Objectives 4 Components of the strategy 4 Brand 4 Background to Early 6 Childhood Development The Policy Framework 8 The Institutional 10 and Legal Framework The Advocacy Strategy 10 The Public Awareness Strategy 19 Communication Brief 22 Management of the Advocacy 28 and Communication Strategy

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This strategy is the product of a collaborative effort of a task force comprising individuals from key organizations involved in the ECD programming in Malawi: Hyacinth Kulemeka-Kishindo, formerly of UNESCO and now Director for Child Development in the Ministry of Gender, Child and Community Development, Francis Chalamanda from the Ministry of Gender, Child and Community Development, Karen Manda, Jacqueline Kabambe, Rachel Maganga and Chaliza Matola from UNICEF, Mary Phiri from the Sub-Saharan Africa Family Enrichment Programme (SAFE) and National Chairperson of the ECD Network, and Dr. Forster Kholowa, a member of the ECD Network and Lecturer at the University of Malawi,. Acknowledgements also go to Victor Chinyama of UNICEF for facilitating the process of developing this strategy and finalizing the strategy document.

FOREWORD
Early Childhood Development (ECD) is a comprehensive approach to policies and programmes for children from birth to eight years of age, their parents and caregivers. Its purpose is to protect and promote the childs rights to develop his or her full cognitive, emotional, social and physical potential. Children who have gone through ECD are school ready, excel in class, and have higher chance of completing their school cycle compared to those who have not and are successful in life. ECD presents many benefits. Children who have gone through ECD services are more productive in socio-economic development and lead a better quality life. The country benefits by saving resources used in remedial education, healthcare and rehabilitation services. There are also higher earnings for parents and care givers who are freer to enter the labour force. ECD has a central role in the attainment of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy Goal of reducing poverty through sustained economic growth. This goal is also in tandem with the Millennium Development Goal of eradicating extreme hunger and poverty, ensuring that all children live healthy lives, attain gender equality, are protected from the effects of HIV and AIDS, and complete primary school education. Since the National Policy on ECD was adopted in 2004, great strides have been made to improve the quality of ECD programme being provided to young children in Malawi. Malawi now has a well-defined implementation structure at community, district and national levels. A National ECD Network is fully functional, providing a forum for networking, collaborating and partnership between various stakeholders. There is better coordination of service delivery among organizations and efforts are ongoing to improve their capacities to ensure access, quality and fairness in ECD services. Despite its benefits, ECD suffers from poor funding and limited visibility. This is most unfortunate as the need for increase public awareness was recognized as early as 2003 when the policy was approved. I am, therefore, pleased that my Ministry, in partnership with other relevant Government ministries and non-governmental organizations and technical and financial support from UNICEF, has been able to develop this National Advocacy and Communication Strategy, Mmera Mpoyamba. Mmera Mpoyamba is an Advocacy and Communication Strategy for ECD meant to raise awareness and lobby for more funding for ECD services. Mmera Mpoyamba, with its connotations of early planting and reaping a bumper harvest will readily resonate with the public as most Malawians are subsistence farmers. Mmera Mpoyamba is a comprehensive document with strategies and communication tools for engaging different target audiences. Implementation of the strategy will enable the Ministry and its partners to achieve its awareness goals. It is envisaged that after Mmera Mpoyamba implementation more financial, material, human and other resources will be made available towards ECD activities so that the majority of children who are currently excluded can also benefit. It is also expected that families, organizations and communities will strive to provide complete care for their children including the orphaned and vulnerable children and children with special needs so that they grow into productive citizens and get their families out of the poverty trap. It is the wish of the Ngwazi Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, the president of the Republic of Malawi, to accord all children of Malawi better ECD services so that they can have good start in life. Thus, the Advocacy and Communication Strategy supports his efforts to provide better early childhood development services to all children. Therefore, I urge all individual Malawians, Development Partners, NGOs, CBOs, FBOs, the Private Sector and Human Rights Organizations involved in implementing the Mmera Mpoyamba advocacy and communication strategy to work tirelessly and diligently to achieve the advocacy objectives that will benefit all the children in Malawi and beyond the boarders. The advocacy and communication will unlock interest and resources which will give all Malawian children the best start in life and a brighter future of our beautiful land of fire, Malawi.

Honourable Patricia Kaliyati, MP Minister of Gender, Children and Community Development

JUSTIFICATION & RATIONALE

Children constitute an important segment of the population in Malawi. Of the estimated national population of 13.2 million, 6.8 million are aged below 18. According to the national policy on Early Childhood Development (ECD), most Malawian children lead very difficult lives, often beset by endemic poverty, chronic diseases and a dearth of opportunities for mental and emotional development.
The period from conception to eight years is the most critical for a childs mental and cognitive development and growth. It forms the foundation for later learning and socialization and the start a child has will determine the quality of life that child will lead in future. Investing in a childs life during this critical phase therefore ensures a better life for the child and the nation. Early Childhood Development interventions are one way of providing care and stimulation services to children during their formative years. Defined as a comprehensive approach to policies and programmes for children from conception to eight years which encompasses their health, education, nutrition, hygiene and sanitation as well as social development, ECD protects a childs right to develop to full potential cognitively, emotionally, socially, psychologically and physically. In Malawi, ECD has been in existence from as early as the 1950s. Yet as a concept, ECD is not well known by communities and is least understood by policy and decision makers. The Integrated Strategic and Implementation Plan for ECD 20082012 identifies the low profile and visibility of ECD in Malawi as one of the factors negatively affecting service delivery. Not many politicians and citizens appreciate the importance of ECD, resulting in a low priority accorded to ECD, absence of a line on ECD in the national budget and relatively low community involvement in ECD activities.

GOAL
The goal of this advocacy and communication strategy is to raise public awareness of Early Childhood Development in Malawi.

OBJECTIVES
The strategy has three objectives: 1. 2. 3. To create awareness of ECD among policy makers and technocrats; To advocate for increased financial and resource investments in ECD programmes in Malawi; and To raise public awareness on ECD to 80 per cent of the population.

COMPONENTS
This strategy is divided into two parts: 1. 2. Creating awareness and advocating for increased resource allocation to ECD among policymakers, technocrats and donors; and Creating public awareness of ECD.

BRAND
The advocacy and communication strategy on ECD will be called Mmera Mpoyamba, which means ones future is determined by how one starts in life. It captures the essence of ensuring that children have a good start in life in order for them to realize their full potential as they grow up into adults. Growing up with poverty, malnutrition, poor health, and un-stimulating home environments, millions of children in Malawi lack the means to fully develop their cognitive, motor, and social-emotional skills. It is essential therefore to emphasize the notion that by not investing in these children in the present, Malawi risks raising a generation of its citizens that lacks the necessary skills to compete in a globalized world.

...BRAND
Given its connotations with planting and reaping, Mmera Mpoyamba will galvanize leaders and seize the imagination of communities because it is a phrase that most Malawians, living as they do in a predominantly agricultural nation, will associate with. It shows a direct connection between what Malawi sows now in its young citizens and what the nation can expect to reap in future. To enhance recognition of ECD, a logo and jingle have been developed.

BACKGROUND TO EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT IN MALAWI

Early childhood development activities in Malawi in the 1950s were focused on the provision of care to young preschool children. Mostly operated by missionary groups, these centers enrolled children for two years before they proceeded to Standard One. The first conventional ECD Center was established by the Church of Central African Presbytery in 1966 at the Henry Henderson Institute in Blantyre. This initial effort was soon followed by a mushrooming of centers taking many forms, some operating as day care centers and others as preschool play groups. Community-Based Care Centers (CBCCs) were later introduced in the late 1980s. Pre-school play groups were the most common. As their numbers swelled, the Association of Preschool Play Groups in Blantyre was formed in 1970 to coordinate their activities. It was later renamed the Association of Preschool Playgroups in Malawi in1972. Chronic malnutrition and the increasing numbers of children orphaned by AIDS led to demand for community-based child care. CBCCs mushroomed in 1998 to provide comprehensive care to orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC). The need arose for a policy framework to guide ECD programmes and activities in the country and in 2003, the Government launched a National Policy on Early Childhood Development to provide guidelines and coordination for implementation of ECD activities in Malawi. A national ECD Network of stakeholders and child care professionals was soon formed to coordinate ECD programmes and a core team of national and district trainers identified. Parent committees have been established to mobilize resources and provide leadership and guidance in the management of ECD services. An inventory of existing community-based care centers was undertaken in 2008 to create a database of all CBCCs operating in Malawi. The inventory shows that there are a total of 5,665 CBCCs operating in Malawi. Overall, the growth in the number of ECD centers operating in Malawi suggests that there exists a sustainable demand for these services. From 649 centers catering for 32,000 children (aged 6 years and below) in 1996, the centers had mushroomed to 7,800 by 2007 catering for 684,000 children of the same age-group. These children, lucky enough to attend an ECD center, represented only 30 per cent of all children in that age-group needing to be reached with ECD services. The 70 per cent of under-six children currently not being reached represent a lost opportunity, an unacceptable omission the full costs of which can only be fathomed in the years to come.

THE POLICY FRAMEWORK

Prior to 2003, Malawi had no policy on early child development. As the Government progressed with its agenda to eradicate poverty, it became necessary to develop a policy in order to integrate ECD into the poverty eradication agenda. The policy would also provide guidelines and coordination of ECD activities in Malawi. Early Childhood Development is also referenced in the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy, which though not mentioning ECD specifically, recognizes the need to have an expanded infrastructure and increased access to preschool. The National Policy on Early Childhood Development argued for greater investments in early child development in order to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty that was rooted in unequal distribution of resources especially among poor children. The future of the nation, the policy argued, would be built on a sound and solid foundation if all children were afforded a fair and sound start to life. Elements of ECD are found in several other policy instruments. The National Gender Policy (2000) promotes gender equality in education and training, reproductive health, food and nutrition environmental and natural resources management, governance and human rights, and participation and economic empowerment. These factors have a major bearing on early child development and are mainstreamed in ECD programming. Other policies aimed at providing care, protection, development and participation of children in tandem with the ECD Policy are The National Policy on Youth (1998), The Decentralization Policy (1996), The National Policy on Orphan Care (1996), The National Education Policy/Policy Investment Framework (2000), The National education Sector Plan (2008), The National Sports Policy (2000), The Health Policy (2000), The Policy on People with Disability (2002/2006), The Nutrition Policy (2003), The Infant and Young Child Feeding Policy (2003), and The HIV and AIDS Policy (2000), the ACSD policy.

THE INSTITUTIONAL & LEGAL FRAMEWORK

Chapter 4, section 23 of the Malawi Constitution stresses the protection of all children in Malawi. The Department of Child Development in the Ministry of Gender, Child and Community Development is mandated by various acts of parliament and cabinet directives to care for and protect the rights and welfare of all children in Malawi. Laws dealing with children and ECD include the Children and Young Persons Act, the Probation of Offenders Act, the Affiliation Act, the Maintenance of Married Women Act, the Wills and Inheritance Act, the Adoption of Children Act, and the Birth and Death Registration Act. Others include the Employment of Women Act, the National Youth Council Act, the Childrens Homes Act, the Penal Code, and the Human Rights Provision. Malawi has ratified various international commitments that obligate Governments to provide services, including ECD. These include the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Education For All (EFA) commitments, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the World Fit for Children (WFC), and the African Union Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Early Child Development services related to health are provided through the Ministry of Health. These include Integrated Management of Childhood Diseases (IMCI), accelerated Child Survival and Development (ACSD), Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT), and ante natal and newborn care. Nutrition programmes are provided through nutrition Rehabilitation Units, communal gardens, and schoolfeeding programs. Water and sanitation services are provided through the Ministry water Development and Irrigation. A national ECD Network, comprising various stakeholders, provides a platform for networking and collaboration on ECD activities at national level. ECD centres, such as Community-Based Care Centers, kindergartens, and preschools provide early learning and stimulation. Communities are engaged in ECD activities through parent support programs. Childrens corners provide orphans and vulnerable children the opportunity to receive psychosocial support. ECD services are also provided through alternative care programmes like foster care and orphanages. Social protection programs like

...THE INSTITUTIONAL & LEGAL FRAMEWORK

cash transfer schemes provide an enabling environment for the proper growth and development of children. The Ministry of Water and Irrigation promotes early childhood care through provision of safe water and sanitation. The Ministry of Education through the National Education Sector Plan (NESP) identifies access and equity, quality and relevance, governance and management as the key strategies for providing ECD.

ADVOCACY STRATEGY
Objective 1: To create awareness of ECD among policy makers and technocrats and donors.

Early Childhood Development is not well-known as a concept and a programme in Malawi. As a result, it suffers from exclusion by key policy and decision makers who decide on allocation of resources within their ministries. These include Ministers, Principal Secretaries and Directors. Although ECD is reflected in different sector policies, in reality it receives little or no priority in national planning, resource allocation and programme implementation. There are no support structures in ministries and organizations to ensure that ECD is mainstreamed in their activities. Awareness raising efforts will also be directed at cooperating partners operating in Malawi. The existence of an ECD policy and a national strategic plan has not necessarily resulted in understanding of ECD and commitment from policy makers to make it work. This advocacy strategy aims to create greater understanding of ECD and how individual ministries and organizations can contribute to strengthening ECD programmes. In particular, awareness creation efforts will be directed at technocrats in key ministries, such as principal secretaries and directors. Efforts will also be targeted at creating greater understanding of the linkages between ECD and other sectors like health, education, nutrition, water and sanitation, ensuring that ECD is mainstreamed in national and sectoral plans and accorded the necessary priority in resource allocation and programme implementation. The strategy will also advocate for improved linkages among sectors and programmes and the creation of support structures in key ministries and organizations.

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...ADVOCACY STRATEGY
Key Messages

...ADVOCACY STRATEGY
Communication Tools
Communication tools targeted at policy and decision makers need to be strategic and regularly accessed by these audiences. Only mass media that demonstrates an ability to reach these audiences will be used and transmission times limited to those times when the audiences are likely to be tuned in. The following tools will be used: Newspapers, radio and television. Billboards Websites. Reports. Fliers & factsheets. Speeches.

Know the basics of ECD. Know the components of ECD and its cross-cutting and holistic nature. Understand the importance and benefits of ECD.

Target Audience
Ministers, Principal Secretaries and Directors in line Ministries. Cooperating partners in Malawi.

National Early Childhood Development Network

The national ECD network will lead advocacy efforts. Its responsibilities will be: To spearhead all advocacy efforts related to ECD. To lobby for increased resource allocations to ECD programmes. To work closely with the Eminent Person on ECD and the Panel of Experts on all advocacy initiative. To lobby for the establishment of a National ECD Awareness Week, the hosting of a National ECD Forum, and the establishment of a parliamentary caucus on ECD.

Key Strategies
Study tour of policy and decision makers to ECD programmes within Malawi and other good practice African countries. Participants will learn about how ECD programmes work. Interpersonal meetings - a Presidential Breakfast, roundtable discussions, press conferences, and courtesy calls. Lobbying. Evidence-based information kits derived from documents like the Key Child-Care Practices Baseline Study (2000 & 2003), the National Inventory of CommunityBased Child Care Centers (2008), Global Monitoring Reports (2006 & 2007), and the proposed ECD Resource Allocation and Expenditure Study, among others. Use commemoration days to highlight ECD in Malawi. Among others, these include the Day of the African Child, the Universal Childrens Day, the International Childrens Day of Broadcasting, World AIDS Day, Education Day, Child Health Days, Africa Malaria Day, World Breastfeeding Week, World Water Day, and World Disability Day. Sessions of the Malawi Childrens Parliament. Conferences and seminars. Human interest stories testimonies, demonstrations.

Eminent Advocate on Early Child Development

It is proposed that an Eminent Person be appointed to lend a moral voice to Early Childhood Development in Malawi. The person appointed should be of a high moral standing in Malawian society and should share a commitment to improving the lives of children.

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...ADVOCACY STRATEGY
Panel of Early Child Development Experts
It is further proposed that a panel of experts on Early Child Development de constituted to provide intellectual and expert leadership to the development of ECD in Malawi. The terms of reference of the panel shall be: To oversee the National Conference on Early Childhood Development; To use their expertise to guide the development of ECD in Malawi. To identify areas in ECD requiring further research and contribute to the body of knowledge in Malawi and globally. To provide expert opinion to the public through mass media and other mass communication channels.

...ADVOCACY STRATEGY
Parliamentary Caucus on ECD
The ECD Policy envisions the creation of Cabinet and Parliamentary Committees on ECD as a means of bringing ECD closer to the center of political power. Efforts will be made to lobby the creation of a parliamentary caucus on ECD, drawing on members from the social affairs, education, health, water and sanitation, justice and finance, parliamentary sub-committees.

National ECD Awareness Week

It is proposed that a National ECD Awareness Week be established in order to raise the profile of ECD in Malawi. As the country is already inundated with commemorative days and events, it is proposed that the Awareness Week be devoid of commemorative activities and events that tend to suck up lots of effort and money but have no real beneficial value or impact. Instead, the Awareness week will be a period of intensified awareness-raising through saturation of the mass media with news and information about ECD. In order to enhance media capacity to report on ECD, field trips will be organized for journalists within and outside Malawi. It is further proposed that national awards be set up to honour journalists who exhibit excellence in reporting on ECD. The Awareness Week shall be kept floating in 2009 but will be fixed to a specific week of the year from 2010 onwards.

Annual National ECD Forum

It is proposed that a National Forum on Early Childhood Development be convened in 2009 to bring together researchers, practitioners, and experts to share knowledge, experiences, and programme trends in ECD. The Forum will bring together Malawian participants as well as regional and international experts and will not only shine a powerful public spotlight on ECD but will also serve as a platform for shaping the future of ECD in Malawi. The Forum will be held annually.

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...ADVOCACY STRATEGY
Objective 2: To advocate for increased financial and resource investments in Early Childhood Development programmes in Malawi.
Currently, UNICEF is the only major development partner that is funding ECD activities in Malawi, with an allocation of MWK 350 million (USD 2.5 million) in 2008. The National ECD Strategic Plan 2008-2012 is costed to a tune of MWK 63.7 billion for the period 2008-2011. But with inadequate amounts allocated in 2007 from the national treasury to ECD activities in the Ministry of Gender, Child and Community Development, ECD plans and activities in the ministry mandated by the national ECD policy to regulate and coordinate all ECD programmes in Malawi remain hobbled by poor funding. This communication strategy will advocate for increased funding from the national treasury for ECD activities in Malawi as costed in the National ECD Strategic Plan. At the moment, it is unknown how much money line ministries allocate to ECD programmes. To obtain a better idea of funding to ECD activities, a mapping of ECD resource allocations in various Government ministries will be undertaken, the results of which will be used to better sharpen the argument for increased resource allocation.

...ADVOCACY STRATEGY
Key Messages The first year of a child lasts forever. Access to ECD services is every childs right. No Malawian child should be left behind. Early stimulation supports a childs development now and throughout life. Most developmental activities are formed in the first 3 years of life. Socio-economic development starts with early child development. Early Child Development helps break the intergenerational cycle of poverty. Early Child Development leads to increased school and workplace productivity. For every child denied ECD services, Malawi loses 20% of its investments in that child. For every dollar Malawi invests in quality ECD, there is a return of $17.01 in cost savings. Children that have gone through ECD have fewer class repetitions, drop out of school less often, are less delinquent. These children will also incur the country and family fewer medical expenses - $12.90 saved by the national treasury and $4.17 saved by the family The Lancet Series). Know where resource gaps exist in ECD and how you can help bridge the gap. Prevention is less expensive than treatment.

Target Audiences
Advocacy for increased resources for ECD will be targeted at decision makers and technocrats in the Ministry of Finance. Lobbying efforts will be aimed at increasing the funding allocated for ECD programmes in the national budget. Policy and decision makers in ministries will be lobbied to increase funding allocations to ECD activities within their line budgets. Advocacy efforts will also include encouraging cooperating partners to fund ECD programmes. In addition, the strategy aims to leverage resources for ECD in NGOs and city and district assemblies. Advocacy efforts will therefore be directed at heads of NGOs and the CEOs of city and district assemblies.

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...ADVOCACY STRATEGY
Strategies
To advocate for increased resource allocation to ECD, these strategies will be employed: Interpersonal meetings a Presidential breakfast, a roundtable discussions, press conferences, and courtesy calls. Lobbying. Evidence-based information kits showing the opportunity cost of not investing in children. Information will be derived from, among others, the Lancet Series on Early Childhood Development, the Malawi Nutrition Profiles, and the District Health Expenditure Study. Human interest stories testimonies, demonstrations.

...ADVOCACY STRATEGY
Non-governmental actors include: Civil society organizations. International NGOs. Development partners (UNICEF, WHO, WFP, World Bank). Local and international ECD experts. The National Network will be the primary forum for sharing information. Other for a will be: Quarterly meetings Website Research study launches Press conferences Radio/TV programmes

Allies
The roles and responsibilities of organizations in ECD are clearly spelt out in the National ECD Policy. The Ministry of Gender, Child and Community Development, as the custodian of this advocacy and communication strategy, will coordinate and direct implementation. The Ministry will also monitor implementation and provide oversight. The following allies will support the implementation of this strategy: Ministry of Health in health-related aspects of ECD (IMCI, ACSD, Nutrition) Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in early learning and stimulation, curriculum development, and maintaining quality and standards. Ministry of Agriculture in nutrition and food security. Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development in the provision of water and sanitation. Ministry of Labour in child protection Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Economic Planning and Development in resource allocation and planning. Ministry of Information and Civic Education in public awareness and civic education. Ministry of Justice in childrens rights and protection. Ministry of Persons with Disabilities and the Elderly in supporting children with disabilities. Dept of Nutrition in the Office of the President and Cabinet in nutrition and HIV and AIDS.

Evaluation
Indicators for the advocacy to policy and decision makers and technocrats are: Greater awareness of ECD. Increased resources allocated to ECD programmes and activities.

Duration
The advocacy campaign will run between 2008-2012 concurrently with the Integrated Strategic and Implementation Plan.

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PUBLIC AWARENESS COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

Objectives: 1. To create greater awareness among parents and caregivers of the ECD services provided in their communities and enhance community ownership of ECD programmes. 2. To increase demand for quality ECD services at household and community levels. 3. To improve the capacity of service providers at community and district levels to tap into available funding through the formulation of village and district ECD implementation plans.

PUBLIC AWARENESS COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

Key messages
Target audiences Parents and guardians. Traditional and religious leaders. ECD caregivers. Local councillors. Extension workers Teachers. Children.

Strategies and tools

To raise public awareness on ECD, the following strategies and communication tools will be used: Community sensitization through national and community radio. Interpersonal meeting with communities. Drama/Song/Dance/Stories/Puppet Shows. Meetings of District Assemblies. Open Days Mobile vans Billboards IEC materials like posters, stickers, fliers, Chitenjes. Religious and traditional assembly meetings. Wall murals. Newspaper stories and articles in Boma Lathu.

Public awareness of ECD services offered in Malawi is generally very low resulting in poor community support for this important intervention. Communities have scant appreciation of the role of ECD in providing care and support to young children and their involvement is therefore minimal. At district level, the lack of awareness among extension workers means ECD is almost always never factored into their annual implementation plans. The extension workers (district social welfare officers, child protection officers, health surveillance assistants, community development assistants, agricultural and forestry officers are not empowered enough with knowledge to be able to mobilize resources for ECD.

Allies
Ministry of Information and Civic Education. Ministry of Education. Ministry of Health. The Association of Preschool Playgroups in Malawi (APPM). The Media Council of Malawi. Private and public radio stations. Theater and drama groups. Religious and traditional leaders.

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Evaluation
Key indicators are: Objective 1: To create greater awareness among parents and caregivers of the ECD services provided in their communities and enhance community ownership of ECD programmes Number of parent committees established. Number of caregivers providing services in ECD centers. Objective 2: To increase demand for quality ECD services at household and community levels. Number of children registering at ECD centers. Objective 3: To improve the capacity of service providers at community and district levels to tap into available funding available through the formulation of village and district ECD implementation plans.

MMERA MPOYAMBA COMMUNICATION BRIEF

Purpose: Why are we producing this campaign?
Children constitute an important segment of the population in Malawi. Of the estimated national population of 13.2 million, 6.8 million are aged below 18. There is need to add data on how many children are in the early childhood years) Early Childhood Development interventions are one way of providing care and stimulation services to children during their formative years. In Malawi, ECD has been in existence from as early as the 1950s. Yet as a concept, ECD is not well known by communities and is least understood by policy and decision makers.

Issues: What is the reality in Malawi?

1. 2. For every child denied ECD services, Malawi loses 20% of its investments in that child. For every dollar Malawi invests in quality ECD, there is a return of $17.01 in cost savings. Children that have gone through ECD have fewer class repetitions, drop out of school less often, are less delinquent. These children will also incur the country and family fewer medical expenses - $12.90 saved by the national treasury and $4.17 saved by the family The Lancet Series). Send your child aged 3-5 years to an ECD centre. The experience will enable your child to be ready for school and perform better. Most developmental activities take place within the household, Knowledge and skills on ECD by parents enhances brain development during the first years of life and forms a strong foundation for learning. (and are formed between 0-2 years. Parents and guardians play a key role). Play and recreation stimulates the childs development and provides a solid base for mental and social emotion growth for now and throughout life. Children with disabilities have a right to ECD services. Make ECD centres friendly to children with disabilities.

3. 4.

5. 6.

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MMERA MPOYAMBA COMMUNICATION BRIEF

Objective: What is the campaign supposed to achieve?
The goal of the Mmera Mpoyamba campaign is to raise awareness on the importance of the early childhood years in order to achieve changes in policy and behaviours in community members and parents. The expected results will be: To improve knowledge on ECD and its benefits from the current status to 80% as set in the ECD Strategy; To communicate with households on what they can do at household level to improve early childhood development; and

MMERA MPOYAMBA COMMUNICATION BRIEF

Early Child Development Matrix
Key Messages/Message Areas Targets

Know the basics of ECD.

Teachers, pupils in schools, parents, local & traditional leaders, policy makers, health staff, media.

Target Audience: Who are we talking to and what do we know about them that will help?
The Mmera Mpoyamba awareness Campaign will target parents, teachers, local and traditional leaders, media, community members and decision makers. These are groups that are aware of the problems affecting children and childrens reality of development. Challenges in Early Child Development can be met with the involvement of stakeholders.

Know the components of ECD and its cross-cutting Teachers, pupils in schools, parents, local & traditional and holistic nature. leaders, policy makers, health staff.

Understand the importance and benefits of ECD.

Teachers, pupils in schools, parents, local & traditional leaders, policy makers, health staff, media.

The first years of a childs life lasts forever.

Teachers, pupils in schools, parents, local & traditional leaders, policy makers, health staff.

Access to ECD services is every childs right. No Malawian child should be left behind.

Parents, policy makers, local & traditional leaders, media.

Early stimulation supports a childs development now and throughout life.

Parents, policy makers, health staff, local & traditional leaders.

Most developmental activities are formed in the first 3 years of life.

Parents, health staff.

Socio-economic development starts with early child development.

Policy makers, local & traditional leaders, media.

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...Early Child Development Matrix
Key Messages/Message Areas
Early Child Development helps break the intergenerational cycle of poverty.

MMERA MPOYAMBA COMMUNICATION BRIEF

...Early Child Development Matrix
Key Messages/Message Areas
Send your child aged 3-5 years to an ECD centre. The experience will enable your child to be ready for school and perform better. Play and recreation stimulates the childs development and provides a solid base for mental and social emotional growth for now and throughout life.

Targets
Policy makers, local & traditional leaders, media.

Targets
Policy makers, teachers, health staff, parents, local & traditional leaders.

Early Child Development leads to increased school Policy makers, teachers, local & traditional leaders, and workplace productivity. media.

Teachers, health staff, parents.

For every child denied ECD services, Malawi loses 20% of its investments in that child.

Policy makers, local & traditional leaders, media. ECD helps break the intergenerational cycle of poverty. Policy makers, teachers, health staff, parents, local & traditional leaders.

For every dollar Malawi invests in quality ECD, Policy makers, teachers, health staff, parents, local & there is a return of $17.01 in cost savings. Children traditional leaders, media. that have gone through ECD have fewer class repetitions, drop out of school less often, are less delinquent. These children will also incur the country and family fewer medical expenses - $12.90 saved by the national treasury and $4.17 saved by the family The Lancet Series).

Most developmental activities take place within Parents, Health staff. the household and are formed between 0-2 years. The stimulation that parents and guardians provide in these early years of life play a key role in brain development and form the foundation for later learning.

Know where resource gaps exist in ECD and how you can help bridge the gap.

Policy makers, teachers, health staff, parents, local & traditional leaders.

Household socio-economic development starts with early child development.

Parents, local & traditional leaders.

Prevention is less expensive than treatment.

Policy makers, teachers, health staff, parents, local & traditional leaders, media.

Children with disabilities have a right to ECD Policy makers, teachers, health staff, parents, local & services. Make ECD centres friendly to children with traditional leaders, media. disabilities.

The first years of a child last forever. Every child has a right to a good start to life.

Policy makers, teachers, health staff, parents, local & traditional leaders, media.

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MMERA MPOYAMBA COMMUNICATION BRIEF

What are our key channels for communication?
A mix of communication channels, mainly in the realm of mass media have been carefully selected to reach all Malawians with the Mmera Mpoyamba campaign. Standard messages will be shared with mainstream, community and faith based radios for development of programmes that support the goals and objectives of the campaign. The combination of the radios ascertains that all segments of population are reached with the messages regardless of geographic location, social economic status and religious affiliation. Activities: The following programmes will be run on radio stations: 15-30 minute Mmera Mpoyamba programmes; 15 minute Mmera Mpoyamba radio plays produced and aired on mainstream radios and reproduced for faith based and community radio stations; Question bag/Interactive programme that intends to get feedback from listeners on programmes Matrix for Radio Stations and Justification
# Radio Station By Radio Station By Name Type I. Mainstream II. Faith-Based Estimated Reach

MANAGEMENT OF THE ADVOCACY & COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

The Ministry of Gender, Child and Community Development will provide leadership and oversight to the implementation of the advocacy and communication strategy. Funding shall be provided by UNICEF and other partners and the national ECD Network will ensure that it supports and facilitates implementation. An ECD Advocacy and Communication Consultant may be hired and situated in the Ministry of Gender, Child and Community Development to develop an annual plan of action, oversee development of brand tools and manage the campaign on a day-today basis. The Consultant will be answerable to the Ministry but is expected to report on progress to National ECD Network through: Quarterly Monitoring Reports Minutes Documentaries Research studies

Malawi Broadcasting Corporation Over 70% of households in the country Zodiak Broadcasting Corporation Over 75% of households in the country Seventh Day Adventist Radio Islam Radio Maria Radio Alinafe Radio Tigabane 60% of population in South and Central region Over 50% of the population in the country Over 60% of the population in the country Over 50% of the population in the country Covers all districts in the Northern Region Combined reach out to over 2 million people in the country in Mangochi, Balaka, Ntcheu, Dedza, Salima, Mchinji, Kasungu, Ntchisi, Dowa, Nkhota kota, Nkhata Bay, Likoma, Mzuzu, Mzimba, Rumphi,

III. Community Radios Dzimwe PACSO Mudzi Wathu Nkhota kota Mzimba Malawi Institute of Journalism

About 50% of the Southern and Central Regions

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The Government of Malawi

MINISTRY OF GENDER, CHILDREN AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Private Bag 433, Lilongwe 3, Malawi.

PHOTOGRAPHS: UNICEF SEPTEMBER 2009

P.O. Box 30375, Lilongwe 3, Malawi. Tel: +265 1 770 770 Fax: +265 1 773 162 Email: lilongwe@unicef.org

UNICEF COUNTRY OFFICE