In collaboration with UNESCO, and with support from UNICEF and the Inter-American and Caribbean Development Banks, the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) Secretariat initiated a process to review progress in early childhood policy development in the region. Research in fourteen Caribbean countries for Education for All: Global Monitoring Report on Early Childhood Care and Education found:

• A lack of services for children, particularly for those under 3 years old
• Weak licensing, certification, and monitoring systems
• A preponderance of small, undercapitalised operators
• Low levels of training among caregivers
• Absence of national standards
• Varying standards of care and quality
• Absence of sector-wide governance at the national level, including national plans, policies, or regulatory mechanisms
• 87% of services in the region were provided by community organisations, churches, and private operators

In March 2006, the Caribbean forum on ECD recommended key regional strategies to address ECD as a development priority in the effort to reduce poverty and crime and to promote integrated human and social development. These included a number of coordination mechanisms and partnerships. For example, the CARICOM Secretariat chairs the Regional ECD Working Group to coordinate activity at the regional level. Twelve member organizations participate, including international development partners, regional NGOs, and research institutions. The Working Group meets twice a year to support ECD capacity building of the CARICOM Secretariat in advocacy, policy formulation, strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, and community resource mobilisation. UNESCO and UNICEF are also members of the group, and have supported key actions for 2006-2008:

• Development of guidelines for quality ECD policy and standards
A regional workshop was held in Antigua in September 2006. There was a review of existing ECD standards within the broader framework of policies and regulatory systems being established at national level. The workshop resulted in the drafting of guidelines to assist CARICOM states to develop comprehensive policy, minimum standards, and regulatory frameworks for ECD services. The guidelines will be published in 2008.

• Development of indicators to monitor the performance of the ECD sector
Access to data was identified as a critical constraint to providing a full profile of ECD at the national level. A project was prepared to assist countries to test and pilot data collection mechanisms on an agreed set of indicators to monitor the performance of the early childhood sector. A pilot project in three countries will test the feasibility and utility of the proposed indicators and identify and develop the modalities that will be required for effective implementation at the country level. Key actions for 2008 will include capacity building of early childhood coordinators in the analysis and use of data for reporting and decision making, policy development, and service improvement.

In March 2008, CARICOM held a Special Meeting of the Council on Human and Social Development for Children in Georgetown, Guyana. The decisions agreed upon at this meeting effect all 20 countries in CARICOM. During this meeting a Regional Framework for Action for Children was developed for the time period of 2002-2015. The framework emphasises the following goals:

1. Establish comprehensive, sustainable, and effective early childhood development programmes in all Member States.
2. Protect children against abuse, exploitation, violence, child labour (including worst forms), discrimination, and neglect in all Member States.
3. Reduce mortality among infants and children under the age of 5 years old.
4. Reduce three quarters the maternal mortality ratio.
5. Terminate and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.
6. Sustain the advances in health and education targets/goals as it relates to children’s rights.
7. Retain children in the school system until the secondary graduation.
8. Promote a culture of respect for the rights of children; ensuring children’s rights to a safe, stable, and secure environment

In addition, the framework for action includes specific strategies, short term objectives and targets, and priority actions in order to achieve the aforementioned goals. It also indicates the World Fit for Children and the Millennium Development Goals that are targeted.

Also agreed upon at this meeting was an Addendum to the Regional Framework for Action for Children: Action on Climate Change. This is a new human development issue for the Caribbean region. Two critical issues were considered: 1) The extremely serious impact of climate change driving deterioration of conditions in the region, and 2) The consequences of climate change and emergencies that will be incurred by our children. The addendum includes 6 specific recommendations for 2008-2011 in order to successfully overcome the consequences of climate change within the Caribbean Region. A press release was also issued during the March 2008 meeting, highlighting issues of climate change and its effect on children within the Caribbean.

The next steps for the CARICOM Secretariat and member states include, the implementation of standards, establishment of monitoring systems, development of national financing mechanisms and investment strategies, as well as establishment of organizational structures for governance and support in ECD sectors.

For more information, contact:
Sian Williams
Caribbean ECD Advisor, UNICEF
E-mail: sgwilliams@unicef.org
Website: www.caricom.org

News

• Working Document for the Twelfth Special Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (17-19 March 2008)
• Communique/Press Release Issued at the Conclusion of the Twelfth Special Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Georgetown, GUYANA, 17-19 March 2008
• Childrearing and child participation in Jamaican families
• The experience of developing early childhood learning goals and outcomes in the Caribbean and the implications for curriculum development and implementation
• The impact of poverty and stress on the interaction of Jamaican caregivers with young children
• Are the indicators for the Language and Reasoning Subscale of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised psychometrically appropriate for Caribbean classrooms?
• Making a difference in children’s lives: the story of Nancy, a novice early years teacher in a Jamaican primary school
• The role of early childhood professionals in the early identification of autistic disorder
• Caribbean Link for Child Development (No.1)