“In the future, we can have a healthy environment or an unhealthy environment. I think we all prefer the healthy one,” says eight-year-old Aiyanna, as she joins Pacific leaders, diplomats, development stakeholders and children from Mobile Kindy Fiji at the launch of the Pacific Child website at the Forum Leaders Meeting on Wednesday 13 July.
In the Pacific, Early Childhood Education (ECD) is a priority acknowledged by Pacific Leaders at their Forum Leaders Meeting in 2018, when they called for a ‘whole of government and whole of society’ approach to supporting young children to reach their full potential.
The Pacific Child website will support information and resource sharing between member countries of the Pacific Regional Council for Early Childhood Development (PRC4ECD) as they coordinate actions and investments for young children. The website is managed by the PRC4ECD, with secretariat support from UNICEF Pacific.
Pacific ECD champion, Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, and Prime Minister of Fiji, Hon. Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, called on Pacific Leaders to prioritise ECD in their climate resilience investments.
“The answer now is obvious - invest in early childhood development. If we want resilient communities, we must invest in our children today. If we want sustainable infrastructure, we must invest in our children today. If we want a healthy and productive workforce, we must invest in our children today,” he said.
Since the 2019 Pacific ECD Forum held in Fiji, 8 countries have already embarked on developing their national ECD policies and action plans, while 1 country has one in place and 1 more has expressed an interest in developing a policy in a participatory manner.
Prime Minister Bainimarama was joined at the launch by the Prime Minister of Samoa, Hon. Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, who called for working together across sectors to deliver positive outcomes for young children.
The next step in the regional action plan for ECD will see Pacific Leaders and development stakeholders engaging in the Pacific ECD Forum planned for February next year to take stock of the progress since the Forum in 2019.
Children of the Mobile Kindy Fiji initiative presented their dreams for the future to Leaders, gifting them with artwork as a token of remembrance to keep the future of the region’s young children at the centre of their decisions.
To contribute to Pacific-wide efforts for ECD and to encourage targeted actions and investments for young children, Prime Minister Bainimarama accepted the PRC4ECD’s invitation to be Pacific ECD Champion.