Professional Documents
Culture Documents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements 1 Foreword 2 Justification and Rationale 3 Goal 4 Objectives 4 Components of the strategy 4 Brand 4 Background to Early 6 Childhood Development The Policy Framework 8 The Institutional 10 and Legal Framework The Advocacy Strategy 10 The Public Awareness Strategy 19 Communication Brief 22 Management of the Advocacy 28 and Communication Strategy
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This strategy is the product of a collaborative effort of a task force comprising individuals from key organizations involved in the ECD programming in Malawi: Hyacinth Kulemeka-Kishindo, formerly of UNESCO and now Director for Child Development in the Ministry of Gender, Child and Community Development, Francis Chalamanda from the Ministry of Gender, Child and Community Development, Karen Manda, Jacqueline Kabambe, Rachel Maganga and Chaliza Matola from UNICEF, Mary Phiri from the Sub-Saharan Africa Family Enrichment Programme (SAFE) and National Chairperson of the ECD Network, and Dr. Forster Kholowa, a member of the ECD Network and Lecturer at the University of Malawi,. Acknowledgements also go to Victor Chinyama of UNICEF for facilitating the process of developing this strategy and finalizing the strategy document.
FOREWORD
Early Childhood Development (ECD) is a comprehensive approach to policies and programmes for children from birth to eight years of age, their parents and caregivers. Its purpose is to protect and promote the childs rights to develop his or her full cognitive, emotional, social and physical potential. Children who have gone through ECD are school ready, excel in class, and have higher chance of completing their school cycle compared to those who have not and are successful in life. ECD presents many benefits. Children who have gone through ECD services are more productive in socio-economic development and lead a better quality life. The country benefits by saving resources used in remedial education, healthcare and rehabilitation services. There are also higher earnings for parents and care givers who are freer to enter the labour force. ECD has a central role in the attainment of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy Goal of reducing poverty through sustained economic growth. This goal is also in tandem with the Millennium Development Goal of eradicating extreme hunger and poverty, ensuring that all children live healthy lives, attain gender equality, are protected from the effects of HIV and AIDS, and complete primary school education. Since the National Policy on ECD was adopted in 2004, great strides have been made to improve the quality of ECD programme being provided to young children in Malawi. Malawi now has a well-defined implementation structure at community, district and national levels. A National ECD Network is fully functional, providing a forum for networking, collaborating and partnership between various stakeholders. There is better coordination of service delivery among organizations and efforts are ongoing to improve their capacities to ensure access, quality and fairness in ECD services. Despite its benefits, ECD suffers from poor funding and limited visibility. This is most unfortunate as the need for increase public awareness was recognized as early as 2003 when the policy was approved. I am, therefore, pleased that my Ministry, in partnership with other relevant Government ministries and non-governmental organizations and technical and financial support from UNICEF, has been able to develop this National Advocacy and Communication Strategy, Mmera Mpoyamba. Mmera Mpoyamba is an Advocacy and Communication Strategy for ECD meant to raise awareness and lobby for more funding for ECD services. Mmera Mpoyamba, with its connotations of early planting and reaping a bumper harvest will readily resonate with the public as most Malawians are subsistence farmers. Mmera Mpoyamba is a comprehensive document with strategies and communication tools for engaging different target audiences. Implementation of the strategy will enable the Ministry and its partners to achieve its awareness goals. It is envisaged that after Mmera Mpoyamba implementation more financial, material, human and other resources will be made available towards ECD activities so that the majority of children who are currently excluded can also benefit. It is also expected that families, organizations and communities will strive to provide complete care for their children including the orphaned and vulnerable children and children with special needs so that they grow into productive citizens and get their families out of the poverty trap. It is the wish of the Ngwazi Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, the president of the Republic of Malawi, to accord all children of Malawi better ECD services so that they can have good start in life. Thus, the Advocacy and Communication Strategy supports his efforts to provide better early childhood development services to all children. Therefore, I urge all individual Malawians, Development Partners, NGOs, CBOs, FBOs, the Private Sector and Human Rights Organizations involved in implementing the Mmera Mpoyamba advocacy and communication strategy to work tirelessly and diligently to achieve the advocacy objectives that will benefit all the children in Malawi and beyond the boarders. The advocacy and communication will unlock interest and resources which will give all Malawian children the best start in life and a brighter future of our beautiful land of fire, Malawi.
GOAL
The goal of this advocacy and communication strategy is to raise public awareness of Early Childhood Development in Malawi.
OBJECTIVES
The strategy has three objectives: 1. 2. 3. To create awareness of ECD among policy makers and technocrats; To advocate for increased financial and resource investments in ECD programmes in Malawi; and To raise public awareness on ECD to 80 per cent of the population.
COMPONENTS
This strategy is divided into two parts: 1. 2. Creating awareness and advocating for increased resource allocation to ECD among policymakers, technocrats and donors; and Creating public awareness of ECD.
BRAND
The advocacy and communication strategy on ECD will be called Mmera Mpoyamba, which means ones future is determined by how one starts in life. It captures the essence of ensuring that children have a good start in life in order for them to realize their full potential as they grow up into adults. Growing up with poverty, malnutrition, poor health, and un-stimulating home environments, millions of children in Malawi lack the means to fully develop their cognitive, motor, and social-emotional skills. It is essential therefore to emphasize the notion that by not investing in these children in the present, Malawi risks raising a generation of its citizens that lacks the necessary skills to compete in a globalized world.
...BRAND
Given its connotations with planting and reaping, Mmera Mpoyamba will galvanize leaders and seize the imagination of communities because it is a phrase that most Malawians, living as they do in a predominantly agricultural nation, will associate with. It shows a direct connection between what Malawi sows now in its young citizens and what the nation can expect to reap in future. To enhance recognition of ECD, a logo and jingle have been developed.
ADVOCACY STRATEGY
Objective 1: To create awareness of ECD among policy makers and technocrats and donors.
Early Childhood Development is not well-known as a concept and a programme in Malawi. As a result, it suffers from exclusion by key policy and decision makers who decide on allocation of resources within their ministries. These include Ministers, Principal Secretaries and Directors. Although ECD is reflected in different sector policies, in reality it receives little or no priority in national planning, resource allocation and programme implementation. There are no support structures in ministries and organizations to ensure that ECD is mainstreamed in their activities. Awareness raising efforts will also be directed at cooperating partners operating in Malawi. The existence of an ECD policy and a national strategic plan has not necessarily resulted in understanding of ECD and commitment from policy makers to make it work. This advocacy strategy aims to create greater understanding of ECD and how individual ministries and organizations can contribute to strengthening ECD programmes. In particular, awareness creation efforts will be directed at technocrats in key ministries, such as principal secretaries and directors. Efforts will also be targeted at creating greater understanding of the linkages between ECD and other sectors like health, education, nutrition, water and sanitation, ensuring that ECD is mainstreamed in national and sectoral plans and accorded the necessary priority in resource allocation and programme implementation. The strategy will also advocate for improved linkages among sectors and programmes and the creation of support structures in key ministries and organizations.
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Key Messages
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Communication Tools
Communication tools targeted at policy and decision makers need to be strategic and regularly accessed by these audiences. Only mass media that demonstrates an ability to reach these audiences will be used and transmission times limited to those times when the audiences are likely to be tuned in. The following tools will be used: Newspapers, radio and television. Billboards Websites. Reports. Fliers & factsheets. Speeches.
Know the basics of ECD. Know the components of ECD and its cross-cutting and holistic nature. Understand the importance and benefits of ECD.
Target Audience
Ministers, Principal Secretaries and Directors in line Ministries. Cooperating partners in Malawi.
Key Strategies
Study tour of policy and decision makers to ECD programmes within Malawi and other good practice African countries. Participants will learn about how ECD programmes work. Interpersonal meetings - a Presidential Breakfast, roundtable discussions, press conferences, and courtesy calls. Lobbying. Evidence-based information kits derived from documents like the Key Child-Care Practices Baseline Study (2000 & 2003), the National Inventory of CommunityBased Child Care Centers (2008), Global Monitoring Reports (2006 & 2007), and the proposed ECD Resource Allocation and Expenditure Study, among others. Use commemoration days to highlight ECD in Malawi. Among others, these include the Day of the African Child, the Universal Childrens Day, the International Childrens Day of Broadcasting, World AIDS Day, Education Day, Child Health Days, Africa Malaria Day, World Breastfeeding Week, World Water Day, and World Disability Day. Sessions of the Malawi Childrens Parliament. Conferences and seminars. Human interest stories testimonies, demonstrations.
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Panel of Early Child Development Experts
It is further proposed that a panel of experts on Early Child Development de constituted to provide intellectual and expert leadership to the development of ECD in Malawi. The terms of reference of the panel shall be: To oversee the National Conference on Early Childhood Development; To use their expertise to guide the development of ECD in Malawi. To identify areas in ECD requiring further research and contribute to the body of knowledge in Malawi and globally. To provide expert opinion to the public through mass media and other mass communication channels.
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Parliamentary Caucus on ECD
The ECD Policy envisions the creation of Cabinet and Parliamentary Committees on ECD as a means of bringing ECD closer to the center of political power. Efforts will be made to lobby the creation of a parliamentary caucus on ECD, drawing on members from the social affairs, education, health, water and sanitation, justice and finance, parliamentary sub-committees.
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Objective 2: To advocate for increased financial and resource investments in Early Childhood Development programmes in Malawi.
Currently, UNICEF is the only major development partner that is funding ECD activities in Malawi, with an allocation of MWK 350 million (USD 2.5 million) in 2008. The National ECD Strategic Plan 2008-2012 is costed to a tune of MWK 63.7 billion for the period 2008-2011. But with inadequate amounts allocated in 2007 from the national treasury to ECD activities in the Ministry of Gender, Child and Community Development, ECD plans and activities in the ministry mandated by the national ECD policy to regulate and coordinate all ECD programmes in Malawi remain hobbled by poor funding. This communication strategy will advocate for increased funding from the national treasury for ECD activities in Malawi as costed in the National ECD Strategic Plan. At the moment, it is unknown how much money line ministries allocate to ECD programmes. To obtain a better idea of funding to ECD activities, a mapping of ECD resource allocations in various Government ministries will be undertaken, the results of which will be used to better sharpen the argument for increased resource allocation.
...ADVOCACY STRATEGY
Key Messages The first year of a child lasts forever. Access to ECD services is every childs right. No Malawian child should be left behind. Early stimulation supports a childs development now and throughout life. Most developmental activities are formed in the first 3 years of life. Socio-economic development starts with early child development. Early Child Development helps break the intergenerational cycle of poverty. Early Child Development leads to increased school and workplace productivity. For every child denied ECD services, Malawi loses 20% of its investments in that child. For every dollar Malawi invests in quality ECD, there is a return of $17.01 in cost savings. Children that have gone through ECD have fewer class repetitions, drop out of school less often, are less delinquent. These children will also incur the country and family fewer medical expenses - $12.90 saved by the national treasury and $4.17 saved by the family The Lancet Series). Know where resource gaps exist in ECD and how you can help bridge the gap. Prevention is less expensive than treatment.
Target Audiences
Advocacy for increased resources for ECD will be targeted at decision makers and technocrats in the Ministry of Finance. Lobbying efforts will be aimed at increasing the funding allocated for ECD programmes in the national budget. Policy and decision makers in ministries will be lobbied to increase funding allocations to ECD activities within their line budgets. Advocacy efforts will also include encouraging cooperating partners to fund ECD programmes. In addition, the strategy aims to leverage resources for ECD in NGOs and city and district assemblies. Advocacy efforts will therefore be directed at heads of NGOs and the CEOs of city and district assemblies.
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Strategies
To advocate for increased resource allocation to ECD, these strategies will be employed: Interpersonal meetings a Presidential breakfast, a roundtable discussions, press conferences, and courtesy calls. Lobbying. Evidence-based information kits showing the opportunity cost of not investing in children. Information will be derived from, among others, the Lancet Series on Early Childhood Development, the Malawi Nutrition Profiles, and the District Health Expenditure Study. Human interest stories testimonies, demonstrations.
...ADVOCACY STRATEGY
Non-governmental actors include: Civil society organizations. International NGOs. Development partners (UNICEF, WHO, WFP, World Bank). Local and international ECD experts. The National Network will be the primary forum for sharing information. Other for a will be: Quarterly meetings Website Research study launches Press conferences Radio/TV programmes
Allies
The roles and responsibilities of organizations in ECD are clearly spelt out in the National ECD Policy. The Ministry of Gender, Child and Community Development, as the custodian of this advocacy and communication strategy, will coordinate and direct implementation. The Ministry will also monitor implementation and provide oversight. The following allies will support the implementation of this strategy: Ministry of Health in health-related aspects of ECD (IMCI, ACSD, Nutrition) Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in early learning and stimulation, curriculum development, and maintaining quality and standards. Ministry of Agriculture in nutrition and food security. Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development in the provision of water and sanitation. Ministry of Labour in child protection Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Economic Planning and Development in resource allocation and planning. Ministry of Information and Civic Education in public awareness and civic education. Ministry of Justice in childrens rights and protection. Ministry of Persons with Disabilities and the Elderly in supporting children with disabilities. Dept of Nutrition in the Office of the President and Cabinet in nutrition and HIV and AIDS.
Evaluation
Indicators for the advocacy to policy and decision makers and technocrats are: Greater awareness of ECD. Increased resources allocated to ECD programmes and activities.
Duration
The advocacy campaign will run between 2008-2012 concurrently with the Integrated Strategic and Implementation Plan.
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Public awareness of ECD services offered in Malawi is generally very low resulting in poor community support for this important intervention. Communities have scant appreciation of the role of ECD in providing care and support to young children and their involvement is therefore minimal. At district level, the lack of awareness among extension workers means ECD is almost always never factored into their annual implementation plans. The extension workers (district social welfare officers, child protection officers, health surveillance assistants, community development assistants, agricultural and forestry officers are not empowered enough with knowledge to be able to mobilize resources for ECD.
Allies
Ministry of Information and Civic Education. Ministry of Education. Ministry of Health. The Association of Preschool Playgroups in Malawi (APPM). The Media Council of Malawi. Private and public radio stations. Theater and drama groups. Religious and traditional leaders.
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3. 4.
5. 6.
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Teachers, pupils in schools, parents, local & traditional leaders, policy makers, health staff, media.
Target Audience: Who are we talking to and what do we know about them that will help?
The Mmera Mpoyamba awareness Campaign will target parents, teachers, local and traditional leaders, media, community members and decision makers. These are groups that are aware of the problems affecting children and childrens reality of development. Challenges in Early Child Development can be met with the involvement of stakeholders.
Know the components of ECD and its cross-cutting Teachers, pupils in schools, parents, local & traditional and holistic nature. leaders, policy makers, health staff.
Teachers, pupils in schools, parents, local & traditional leaders, policy makers, health staff, media.
Teachers, pupils in schools, parents, local & traditional leaders, policy makers, health staff.
Access to ECD services is every childs right. No Malawian child should be left behind.
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Targets
Policy makers, local & traditional leaders, media.
Targets
Policy makers, teachers, health staff, parents, local & traditional leaders.
Early Child Development leads to increased school Policy makers, teachers, local & traditional leaders, and workplace productivity. media.
For every child denied ECD services, Malawi loses 20% of its investments in that child.
Policy makers, local & traditional leaders, media. ECD helps break the intergenerational cycle of poverty. Policy makers, teachers, health staff, parents, local & traditional leaders.
For every dollar Malawi invests in quality ECD, Policy makers, teachers, health staff, parents, local & there is a return of $17.01 in cost savings. Children traditional leaders, media. that have gone through ECD have fewer class repetitions, drop out of school less often, are less delinquent. These children will also incur the country and family fewer medical expenses - $12.90 saved by the national treasury and $4.17 saved by the family The Lancet Series).
Most developmental activities take place within Parents, Health staff. the household and are formed between 0-2 years. The stimulation that parents and guardians provide in these early years of life play a key role in brain development and form the foundation for later learning.
Know where resource gaps exist in ECD and how you can help bridge the gap.
Policy makers, teachers, health staff, parents, local & traditional leaders.
Policy makers, teachers, health staff, parents, local & traditional leaders, media.
Children with disabilities have a right to ECD Policy makers, teachers, health staff, parents, local & services. Make ECD centres friendly to children with traditional leaders, media. disabilities.
The first years of a child last forever. Every child has a right to a good start to life.
Policy makers, teachers, health staff, parents, local & traditional leaders, media.
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Malawi Broadcasting Corporation Over 70% of households in the country Zodiak Broadcasting Corporation Over 75% of households in the country Seventh Day Adventist Radio Islam Radio Maria Radio Alinafe Radio Tigabane 60% of population in South and Central region Over 50% of the population in the country Over 60% of the population in the country Over 50% of the population in the country Covers all districts in the Northern Region Combined reach out to over 2 million people in the country in Mangochi, Balaka, Ntcheu, Dedza, Salima, Mchinji, Kasungu, Ntchisi, Dowa, Nkhota kota, Nkhata Bay, Likoma, Mzuzu, Mzimba, Rumphi,
III. Community Radios Dzimwe PACSO Mudzi Wathu Nkhota kota Mzimba Malawi Institute of Journalism
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P.O. Box 30375, Lilongwe 3, Malawi. Tel: +265 1 770 770 Fax: +265 1 773 162 Email: lilongwe@unicef.org