Early Childhood Development Systems in East and Southern Africa
Prepared for:
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Early Childhood Development (ECD) Systems in East and Southern Africa: Systems Diagnostic Synthesis Report
Associated Project
Key Findings
- Kenya, Mozambique, and Tanzania all lack comprehensive ECD legislation but have some type of policy framework in place to guide the implementation of sector-specific ECD services.
- Roles and responsibilities within the governance structures are clear.
- Multisectoral coordination in ECD is nascent in Tanzania and more limited in Mozambique and Kenya.
- The central government funds most ECD activities in all three countries, but financing is fragmented, insufficient, and slow to disburse. A lack of plan costing prevents an assessment of actual needs.
Mathematica and its research partners in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique (The ECD Network for Kenya, Ifakara Health Institute, and KixiQuila Consultores, respectively) worked together with ECD stakeholders to conduct systems mapping and a first-of-its-kind systems diagnostic. This report provides systems maps that visualize the relationships among each country’s systems actors, identifies both global and country-specific barriers and facilitators to systems change, and proposes potential strategies to strengthen multisectoral cooperation governance, policies, and financing structures in support of high-quality, sustainable early childhood services for all.
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