Between 14-16 November, UNESCO will hold the World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), hosted by the republic of Uzbekistan in Tashkent, the nation’s capital.
RTE’s ECCE Programme Manager, Rajakumari Michaelsamy, and Executive Director, Delphine Dorsi will attend the conference to represent RTE and to engage with academics, civil society organisations, and UN and state representatives concerned with this vital educational and developmental stage.
The World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education aims to reaffirm the right of every young child to quality care and education from birth and urge Member States to renew and expand their commitment to and investment in ensuring that access of all girls and boys to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.
In addition to attending sessions across the three days, RTE will participate in two side events, among them:
Parallel Event: Building and strengthening legal framework on ECCE rights: Achievements, Challenges and Actions for Change
We will be collaborating with UNESCO, other civil society organisations, including OMEP, Human Rights Watch, and the Latin American Campaign for the Right to Education (CLADE), the Oxford University Human Rights Hub and Office of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education to organise a parallel event under the theme, 'Policy, governance and finance'. The event will be held in person but can be followed online. Please note that streaming will be one way.
Date: 14th November
Time: 2 -3.30pm
Where: Room No.2 and live stream (for registered participants only)
Side event: Right from the start: the role of civil society actors and partnerships in advancing ECCE
This event, jointly organised by Plan International, Global Campaign for Education, World OMEP, Right to Education Initiative, Ministry of Education Palestine, will be held live in Tashkent but can be followed online. Please note that streaming will be one way.
Date: 15 November
Time: 9-10am
Where: Room D and live stream (for registered participants only)
Civil Society Forum Side Event
Our colleague Rajakumari Michaelsamy will take part in the civil society forum, opening the discussion with reflections on financing gaps in early education. This is a closed session, but will feature other colleagues from a range of international and national civil society organisations.
Date: 13 November (Pre-conference engagement day)
Time: 9:40 to 12:30
Where: Room No.1
In connection to the UNESCO WCECCE, we co-authored a recently published thematic document entitled: 'Building and strengthening the legal framework on ECCE rights: achievements, challenges and actions for change.'
Contributing to this conference is a significant step for us in reinforcing the importance of our work on early childhood care and education from a human right perspecive and our position as one of the leading voices calling from a stronger recognition and commitment to this vital educational and developmental stage.
Recently, we held an online event on 'Strengthening the legal frameworks for early childhood care and education', which brought together state representatives, academics and CSOs to discuss how to advance universal access to quality ECCE. Find out more about the side event and watch the video here:
More information and resources