Early Childhood Education: Advocacy resources and tools

Nazerke, age 5, (center) plays with paper together with children in her group and her teacher at kindergarten ‘Bopezhan’ in Kyzylorda, Kazakhstan. © UNICEF/UN0214717/Babajanyan VII Phot, 2018.

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Tools and Templates

• Advocacy strategy template
• Identifying impacts and outcomes
• Stakeholder and empathy profile tools
• Problem tree analysis template
• Barriers and opportunities tools
• Key advocacy tactics

ECE Accelerator toolkit

The ECE Accelerator Toolkit identifies the preliminary activities/actions that can help strengthen such political will for and an understanding of the ECE subsector. These preparations broadly include advocacy efforts, setting up a technical working group, and clarifying the ECE space in your context.

• Tool 1.1: PowerPoint Deck Template: Outlining Key ECE Advocacy Messages
• Tool 1.2: Conceptual framework: Build to Last: A framework in support of universal quality pre-primary education
• Tool 1.3: Worksheet: Defining ‘Pre-Primary’ or ‘Early Childhood’ Education in Your Country Context
• Tool 1.4: Tip Sheet Strategic Ideas for Establishing the ECE Technical Working Group
• Tool 2.1: Spreadsheet: ECE Data Mapping and Evidence Plan Spreadsheet
• Tool 2.2: Pre-primary Subsector: Analysis Tool
• Tool 2.3: List of Core ECE Cost and Financing Indicators and Variants

Global Commitments

• Tashkent Declaration and Commitments to Action for Transforming Early Childhood Care and Education
• Transforming Education Summit: Commitment to Action
• Briefing Note: Commitment to Action for Foundational Learning

Toolkits and Guidance

• Developing a Global Advocacy Strategy to Support Early Learning
• Advocacy Toolkit: Key Results for Children 3: Equitable & sustainable access to education and Improved learning outcomes — UNICEF, 2021
• Monitoring and Evaluating Advocacy: Companion for the Advocacy Toolkit — UNICEF
• The Art of Advocacy Strategy: Toolkit
• The Art of Advocacy Three Essential Questions for Planning Strategy
• Creating Change: Advocacy Toolkit for Education in Emergencies
• Add Today Multiply Tomorrow: Building an Investment Case for Early Childhood Education
• UNICEF Global Resource Guide on Public Finance for Children in ECD
• A world ready to learn: Prioritizing quality early childhood education
• Supporting resources for consultative workshops
• What Can the Early Childhood Field Learn from Leading Advocacy Initiatives?
• Spending Better for Gender Equality in Education — How can financing be targeted to improve gender equality in education?
• The Path to Progress — Using Advocacy for Impact.pdf
• Crisis Response ECD Advocacy Guidance Note — Feb 2023.pdf
• What you need to know about ECCE
• Why ECCE Matters: brief of cross-cutting messages and data — UNESCO
• SDG 4 and its targets
• Global Partnership Strategy for Early Childhood, 2021–2030

Case studies

• Case Study: Pre-school for All Campaign -Montenegro
• Case Study: Advancing Pre-Primary Education in Sierra Leone
• Case Study: Kyrgyzstan Sets Foundations for Learning through ECE Subsector Strategies
• UNICEF West and Central Africa’s regional prototype for supporting cost-effective policy development for Early Childhood Development
• Systemic Change in Early Childhood Literacy (Lessons from Save the Children Rwanda, 2012–2017)
• Using data to advocate for children: How Save the Children’s open-access assessment tool helped expand pre-school in Rwanda
• “Fixing the Hole in the Safety Net for Children” UNICEF Thailand’s Successful Campaign for a Child Support Grant

Webinars and videos

• From Advocacy to Action — UNICEF and the Global Partnership for Education
• Smart scaling of pre-primary education: Strengthening subnational early childhood education systems
• Enabling Education Network’s Inclusive Beginnings Videos and Manuals
• Advocacy for Education in Emergencies
• EiE Advocacy Using Human Rights Approaches