2019 Pacific Early Childhood Development (ECD) Forum Implementing Pasifika Call to Action on ECD 23-25 October 2019 Sheraton Hotel, Nadi, Fiji CONTENTS Acronyms 1 Introduction 2 2019 ECD Forum Outcomes Statement 3 Forum Highlights: Day 1 (Wednesday, 23 October 2019) 8 Opening ceremony 6 Welcome Remarks by UNICEF 6 Remarks by Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat 8 Remarks by New Zealand Government 11 Opening Remarks by Fiji Government 13 Keynote address: Prioritizing a Holistic Agenda for Young Children by Honourable Dr. Teuea Toatu, Vice-President of Kiribati 17 Remarks by the World Bank 23 Plenary session: Realising a Holistic Agenda for Children: Policies and Systems that Support a Whole-of-government Approach to ECD 24 Officials Forum: Final deliberation on draft Terms of Reference of the Pacific Regional Council for ECD (PRC4ECD) 25 Ministerial Roundtable: Endorsement of Terms of Reference (ToR) of the Pacific Regional Council for ECD (PRC4ECD) 26 Concurrent session: Family Friendly Policies Panel 29 Plenary: Announcement of Ministerial Decision on Terms of Reference for the Pacific Regional Council for Early Childhood Development (PRC4ECD) 33 Plenary: The Triple Burden of Malnutrition in the Pacific 34 Burden #1 Stunting 34 Burden #2 Micronutrient deficiency – Hidden Hunger 35 Burden #3 Maternal and Childhood Obesity 36 Common Solutions 37 Plenary Address: Promoting Healthy Eating in Pacific Homes 38 Forum Highlights: Day 2 (Thursday, 24 October 2019) 39 Special Message by Government of Tonga, “ECD Investments in the Pacific” 40 Plenary: Implementing the Pasifika Call to Action on ECD: Presentation of the guidance document on implementation and monitoring 45 Strategic Action 1: Create an enabling environment for comprehensive ECD service delivery (action points 1,2,3 and 5 of PCAonECD) 47 Country examples: Coordinating and ECD plan of action across agencies 50 Questions and answers 51 Country examples: Child protection in the early years 52 Country example: Promoting early learning in Solomon Islands 55 Country example: Papua New Guinea 56 Country example: Marurung Ataei: A healthy start, a thriving child in Kiribati 57 Plenary: It takes a village to raise a child—building on the nurturing care framework 59 Country example: Positive parenting: Promising approaches in Vanuatu 61 Country example: Community-based early learning in Tonga 62 Country examples: Leave no child behind: Disability-inclusive ECD in Pacific communities 64 Groupwork 66 Forum Highlights: Day 3 (Friday, 25 October 2019) 67 Plenary: Early investments in the human capital of the Pacific 68 Country example: Investments in ECD in Samoa, Niue and RMI 69 Plenary: The Story of Child-Focused Social Protection in the Pacific 71 Country examples: Child-Sensitive Social Protection in the Pacific 73 Special session: Climate Change and ECD 75 Special Message: We Need Action! 75 Special Message: Investing in our Childrens’ future 76 Plenary: Where do we begin? The fundamental role of ECD in the Pacific’s Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation 78 Plenary: Monitoring ECD: What matters and how do we monitor? 80 Plenary: Data on ECD in the Pacific 82 Plenary: Monitoring Framework for Pasifika Call to Action on ECD 84 Celebrating CRC30 86 Presentation and deliberation of 2019 Pacific ECD Forum Outcomes/Action Points 87 Closing Address by Fiji Government 88 Farewell and Thank you by UNICEF 91 Annex 1: Programme of the 2019 Pacific Early Childhood Development (ECD) Forum Implementing Pasifika Call to Action on NCD 93 Annex 3: Groupwork Outcomes on Priority Actions for ECD 99 1. Samoa 99 2. FSM 100 3. Palau 101 4. Tokelau 102 5. Papua New Guinea 103 6. Vanuatu 104 7. Solomon Islands 105 8. Niue 107 9. Fiji 108 10. Nauru 109 11. Cook Islands 110 12. RMI 112 13. Tonga 113 14. Kiribati 114 15. Tuvalu 115 Annex 2: Participants 116 ACRONYMS BMI Body Mass Index CC Climate Change CCD Care for Child Development CCS Childcare Services CPBA Community Play Based Activities (Tonga) CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child CSO Civil Society Organization EC Early Childhood ECCE Early Childhood Care and Education ECD Early Childhood Development ECDI Early Childhood Development Index ECHI Early Human Capability Index ECHO Pacific Ending Childhood Obesity FEdMM Forum Education Ministers’ Meeting FEMM Forum Economic Ministers’ Meeting FFP Family Friendly Policies FSM Federated States of Micronesia HCI Human Capital Index (World Bank) IFC International Finance Corporation MC Master of Ceremonies MDGs Millennium Development Goals MICS Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey MOET Ministry of Education and Training, Vanuatu MND Micronutrient deficiency MWCPA Ministry for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Fiji NCDs Non-communicable diseases PEARL Pacific Early Age Readiness and Learning Program PCA Pasifika Call to Action PCAonECD Pasifika Call to Action on ECD PICs Pacific Islands Countries PICTs Pacific Islands Countries and Territories PIFS Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat PIF SG Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General PRC4ECD Pacific Regional Council for Early Childhood Development PSDI Pacific Sustainable development Indicators PSP Parent Support Program (Vanuatu) RMI Republic of the Marshall Islands SDGs Sustainable Development Goals SIDs Small Island Developing States SP Social Protection SPC Pacific Community STEPS Stepwise approach to surveillance SUN Movement Scaling Up Nutrition Movement UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF EAPRO UNICEF East Asia and Pacific USP University of the South Pacific WASH Water, Sanitation and Hygiene WB World Bank 1 INTRODUCTION The 2019 Pacific Early Childhood Development (ECD) Forum, held at Nadi, Fiji on 23-25 Oc- tober, was a three-day, high-level meeting of government ministers and officials from Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) to discuss how to better support the optimal devel- opment of young children (see Annex 1 for the three-day programme). Organized by UNICEF, with funding support from the Government of New Zealand, the Forum progressed the ini- tiatives of the first regional conference on ECD in 2017 which introduced the Pasifika Call to Action on ECD (PCAonECD)—a nine-point action plan to improve ECD across the Pacific. The Forum was attended by 150 delegates, including Ministers, Permanent Secretaries or their representatives from Ministries of Education, Finance, Health, and Social Welfare from 15 countries: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI), Samoa, Solomon Islands, Ton- ga, Tokelau, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. They were joined by representatives of development part- ners, civil society organizations (CSOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other multi-lateral organizations (see Annex 2: Participant list). The Forum produced several important outcomes for ECD, as contained in an Outcomes Statement (see next page), foremost of which was the establishment of the Pacific Regional Council for Early Childhood Development (PRC4ECD) with Ministerial representation from the 15 countries at the Council level and Permanent Secretaries representation at the Steer- ing Committee level. Hon. Dr. Ifereimi Waqainabete, Minister of Health Fiji, and Hon. Sili Epa Tuioti, Minister of Finance, Samoa were appointed as interim co-chairs until the election of these positions at the next council meeting. UNICEF remains as the PRC4ECD secretariat. The ministers also endorsed a reporting pathway for PRC4ECD to Pacific Leaders via the Forum of Economic Ministers Meeting, with the support of the Pacific Islands Forum Secre- tariat. With the theme Implementing the Pasifika Call to Action on ECD, the Forum also resulted in an increased understanding of strategies and programmes to support young children and families. The Forum stimulated south-south learning on ECD, with almost all the 15 countries on stage to present their own work on ECD. Multi-sectoral group discussions resulted in the delegates’ identification of priority actions that they would undertake immediately after the Forum. This report provides summaries of these presentations, discussions and decisions. The out- comes from group work of countries are included in Annex 3. The report aims to serve as a useful reference for Forum participants and other ECD stakeholders as they convert the out- comes into regional and country-level initiatives to ensure that no child in the Pacific region is left behind. 2 2019 ECD FORUM OUTCOMES STATEMENT WE, Ministers of Education, Health, Social Services and Finance Sectors and our senior gov- ernment representatives from 15 Pacific Island Countries, and development partners, gath- ered in Nadi, Fiji from 23 to 25 October 2019 for the 2019 Pacific Early Childhood Develop- ment (ECD) Forum, subsequent to the 2017 Pacific ECD Conference where the Pasifika Call to Action on ECD was endorsed: 1. Recognizing the need to collectively endorse the terms of reference of a regional council for ECD; 2. Recognizing the need to follow -up on advances made since the Declaration of the Pasifika Call to Action on ECD; 3. Recognizing the need to have a forum following on the culmination of a series of con- sultations across the region to discuss and agree on the governance and priorities of a multi-sectoral, regional council for ECD and to determine the implementing guidelines and monitoring framework of the Pasifika Call to Action on ECD; 4. Recognizing the need to spur coordinated and amplified action on ECD; Therefore, after considerable discussion
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