The Arab Network for Early Childhood (ANECD), the African Early Childhood Network (AfECN), and the UNESCO Education Policy Bureau held a tripartite meeting at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. This meeting aimed to devise a roadmap for the development and implementation of the recommendations outlined in the “Tashkent Declaration on Early Childhood Care and Education”. This declaration was issued by the World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education (WCECCE), organized by UNESCO in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, between November 14th and 16th, 2022.

The meeting was attended by Lynette Okengo, the Executive Director of the African Network; Gwang-Chol Chang, the Chief of Education Policy Section at UNESCO Headquarters; Rohkaya Diawara, Programme Specialist and Early childhood global lead, UNESCO Headquarters; Sonia Guerriero, Programme Specialist and Responsible for the ECCE world report, UNESCO Headquarters; Nina Rottger, Programme Assistant, UNESCO Headquarters; and Dr. Ghassan Issa, ANECD’s General Coordinator.

During the meeting, the participants discussed the draft report of the “Tashkent Declaration” prepared by the Education Policy Department at UNESCO. The report addressed key messages and crucial steps for early childhood care and education, based on Sustainable Development Goal no. 4, which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” and Goal 4.2 that specifically focuses on ensuring that “all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education” by 2030.

The report also emphasized a set of key messages, including:

• Everyone must have equal access and opportunity to quality early childhood education
• The right to education starts from birth
• High quality pre-primary education builds a strong foundation for future learning
• Our first five years lay the foundations for future healthy relationships with ourselves and others
• The early years are the roots of lifelong learning and well-being

The participants agreed to continue their collaborative work towards the final report and proceed with the implementation of the agreed-upon recommendations outlined in the roadmap.