2019 Pacific ECD Forum

The 2019 Pacific Early Childhood Development (ECD) Forum, held at Nadi, Fiji on 23-25 October,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 development of young children. Organized by UNICEF, with funding support from the Government of New Zealand, the Forum progressed the initiatives of the first regional conference on ECD in 2017 which introduced the Pasifika Call to Action on ECD —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, Tonga,Tokelau, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. They were joined by representatives of development partners,civil society organizations (CSOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other multi-lateral organizations.

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 Steering 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 Secretariat. 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.