Putting Children First: Identifying solutions and taking action to tackle poverty and inequality in Africa. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 23-25 October 2017 This three-day international conference aimed to engage policy makers, practitioners and researchers in identifying solutions for fighting child poverty and inequality in Africa, and in inspiring action towards change. The conference offered a platform for bridging divides across sectors, disciplines and policy, practice and research.

1. Foster Kholowa
Senior Lecturer, School of Education,
University of Malawi, fkholowa@cc.ac.mw
24th October 2017
Can community based approaches to Early Childhood
Development do the magic?: Exploring contributions of
the ECD programme implementation to child poverty
reduction in Malawi

2. Motivation
[My curiosity and ‘frustration’?]
 Research on ECD in Malawi – Mostly around CBCCs in
the past 16 years
 Commissioned Research
 Basic Research
 Is research CBCCs pro-poor?? Is practice around
implementation of CBCCs pro-poor?
 Research uptake and practice in Malawi?

3.  Malawi’s gross national income per capita at USD320 (World Bank,
2016).
 85% of the population rely on subsistence farming for their
livelihoods.
 50.7 % of the population still living under the poverty line (below
$1/day) in 2015 (MGDSIII, 2017)
 Poverty rate slightly declined from 52.4% in 2005 to 50.7 % in 2015
 Incidence of ultra-poor increased from 22.4 percent to 25 percent
over the same period.
Context

4.  Total population of 17.2 million,
 46% is below the age of 15.
 Most (32%) of the children for the Early
Childhood Development Programme are within
this age band (MGSDIII, 2017, MDHS, 2015-
2016).
Malawi (cont’d)

5.  HIV prevalence among adults aged 15 to 49 is 8.8%
 Child Protection: 2.4 million children growing up in
violent homes, witnessing domestic violence
 Access to health facilities and services
 Food security and nutrition
Malawi (cont’d)

6.  Various forms of ECD services
 Access steadily increased from 2.63% in 2000 to
45.3% in 2016 (MoGCDSW, 2016)
 Community-Based Model has made huge
contribution to ECD access for rural and vulnerable
children
 Community Based Child Care Centres (CBCCs)
ECD Status

7.  Good progress in this area
 Gaps in the enforcement of some of the
instruments
 Affects implementation on the ground
Legal and institutional framework for ECD

8.  Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (III),(2017-2022)
 ECD policy (2003), revised in 2006, recent revision 2015
 ECD National strategic Plan, (2015-2019)
 Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS), (2010)
 National ECD Operational and Accreditation Guidelines, (2012)
 National ECD Syllabus (2012)
 ECD care givers guidelines (2012)
 National Parenting Education and Support Manual/Handbook, (2008)
 Child care, Protection and Justice Act No 22 (2010)
 Health Sector Strategic Plan, 2011-2016
 Roadmap for accelerating the reduction of maternal and neonatal
Morbidity and Mortality (2012)
 National registration Act, 2010
 Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, (2006) (Not enacted)
 ECD policy and parenting education and support manual (2012)
 National nutrition policy and Strategic plan (2009)
Legal and Institutional Framework for ECD

9.  The CBCC is to evolve a self-sustaining community based
childcare system in order to improve the life expectancy
of children.
 equipping mothers with appropriate basic know-how in
care and growth of children
 improving child nutrition
 stimulation and development
 developing linkages between community and
government and other services
 mobilising communities for social action
The CBCC: How are CBCCs Established and
organised?

10.  Strong body of international evidence on the high
payoffs of investment in ECD
 International evidence suggests that approaches
that integrate education, health, sanitation,
nutrition and protection are particularly effective
 CBCCs tend to follow this pattern
What are the key CBCC implementation issues
to learn from?

11. Overall CBCC Contribution
 ECD Access YES
 Quality services remain a big challenge in
Malawi despite some strides on access –
promoting inequalities in education
provision for the most vulnerable
Implementation Issues to learn from?

12. Examples – PERMANENT ECD BUILDINGS

13. Issues to learn from?

14.  Informal set up for CBCCs
 Huge expectation for community contribution
 Some CBCCs ‘disappear’ or ‘rest’ at certain periods of the year
(Lack of food, inadequate shelter, insufficient numbers of
children, lack of learning materials, caregiver absenteeism)
 Infrastructure ‘nightmare’ - shapes and designs, ranging
from dilapidated structures, temporary grass shelters,
churches, private homes, garages, bottle stores, among
others.
- Efforts being made by stakeholders in putting up standard
structures although minimal
Issues to learn from?

15.  Staffing challenges - Caregivers usually work as
volunteers
 Low Education qualifications (Primary 1-8)
 Limited training (17,888 out of 35,063) by 2016
 No incentives except in rare cases
 Effects on performance and turnover
 Resource Challenges - basic play and learning
materials for use by children and caregivers. Locally
made resources?
Issues to learn from?

16.  Underfunding- ECD sector is severely underfunded
 Dismal national budget allocation to ECD despite
positive move to increase budget
 MoGCDSW 2008/9: MK0.017 billion Vs required
MK11.4 billion a year (NSP for ECD 2009-2014)
Advocacy
 MoGCDSW 2016/17: MK0.63 billion vs. MK14.3 billion a
year required in the new NSP for ECD (2015-2019)
Issues to learn from?

17.  CBCCs seem pro-poor but are fragile
in terms of sustainability
 CBCCs have the magic but need anchoring
Issues to learn from?

18. Recent research findings
“….each CBCC in Malawi exist on a spectrum of
sustainability. On one end, centers can close
permanently and on the other end, centers can be
fully operational and follow all national guidelines.
In between, centers may fluctuate between
operating and closing, potentially changing status
several times within a school year”
(Newman, McConnell & Kholowa, 2014)
Issues to learn from?

19. Big questions?
 What are the implications for rural
and vulnerable children in terms of
child outcomes??
 What child outcomes are achieved in the various child
domains in the context of this fragility? Are these
measured? How?
 Are we systematically promoting inequality of education
provision?
 Are CBCCs helping reduce cycle of child poverty then?
Issues to learn from?

20.  Move beyond rhetoric to effective practice:
 From legal frameworks to anchoring implementation of child
programmes
 National budgets must reform to substantially support ECD
 Focusing on child outcomes rather than programmes inputs
 Formalise CBCCs and strengthen the education component
without neglecting the health and nutrition
 Social safety nets (e.g. Cash Transfers) should include families
with pre-school children
 Constituency Development Funds focused on child related
programmes
What could help for the CBCC?

21. END
THANKS YOUR FOR YOUR ATTENTION