Several members of the Ethiopian federal government accompanied the team from Addis Ababa on an early, seminal trip to Brazil to study that country’s experience with Early Childhood Development. During the design of Addis Ababa’s own program, the Future Hope of Addis Ababa, the federal Ministries of Health, Education, and Women and Social Affairs continued to play key supporting roles. When Addis implemented its program, the federal government reviewed the potential impact and determined that Early Childhood Development should become a priority nationally. The Prime Minister asked each of the country’s regions to scale up its activities within three years.
Five federal regions – Amhara, Oromia, Sidama, Central Ethiopia, and Dire Dawa – sent delegations to visit the Addis program and emerged with their own transformation goals.
Each of these regions is conducting a baseline assessment with an Ethiopian university or research institution, overseen by the African Center for Early Childhood Development, to determine the status of young children’s development in its territory. The regional governments are committed to developing tailored suites of interventions based on the results of these baseline studies, which likely will reveal significant differences based on cultural, economic, and geographical factors.
Together with Addis, the five regions actively pursuing holistic Early Childhood Development programs have a population of over 100 million people. Working together and with the federal government, the regions are determined to chart a new course for their young people that puts them in the best position to contribute to the country’s development and prosperity.
