Good Governance of Early Childhood Development Programmes in Developing Countries: The Need for a Comprehensive Monitoring System

From the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Innocenti Research Centre, this paper highlights the importance of comprehensive early childhood development (ECD) monitoring for making evidence-based decisions, and discusses practical issues to take into consideration when developing such a system. The paper argues for the development of a holistic, comprehensive monitoring system of all ECD interventions (public and private) in a country that covers multiple facets, i.e., education, health, social protection, and the social and economic context in which the child is born.

According to the introduction, the 2007 Education for All (AFA) Monitoring report has identified several characteristics of good governance: "The first is to involve stakeholders from a range of sectors (e.g. health, nutrition, education), to ensure that ECD policy development and implementation meet the diverse needs of children. Inter-sectoral efforts work best when they are led by a strong agency with decision-making power. Second, the responsibilities for ECD must be clearly delineated. The involvement of each ministry and sector must be clarified and systems for accountability put in place. Third, the risks and opportunities for integrating ECD into the education system must be considered. Fourth, in order to reduce the geographical and socio-economic disparities that can arise with decentralization, local actors need funding and capacity-building to develop and implement ECD programmes effectively. Fifth, it is necessary to establish regulations and monitoring systems that can be applied equally to the full range of public and private settings [Footnotes removed by editor.]"

This paper focuses on steps in establishing a national ECD monitoring system in order to highlight the importance of a comprehensive monitoring system for making evidence-based policy and programme decisions and address a range of practical issues to be considered when developing a monitoring system. "[T]hese include the tracking of children through multiple service contexts, maintaining confidentiality, and ensuring that the system is used to inform practice. The use of administrative data is also discussed as a crucial building block in the development of an effective, comprehensive monitoring system."

"One of the first steps is deciding what to monitor through the selection of a limited number of valid and measurable indicators that are aligned to policy and programme goals. In this respect the capacity of the government system should be thoroughly assessed, including 1) the identification and evaluation of existing administrative and other data sources; 2) a training needs analysis of the administrators who will operate the monitoring system to allow for strengthening their skills and prepare them for their future duties; and 3) consideration of the long-term costs of operating a monitoring system in relation to the (projected) available funds, in order to ensure the sustainability of the system."

The document emphasises birth registration without fees and as a prerequisite to social services. This would be a building block to tracking, possibly combined with assigned ID numbers and electronic tracking, connecting health and education ministries' record keeping and services.

The document notes that a lead organisation should set data collection priorities in consultation with collaborating ministries, development partners, and other stakeholders of the monitoring system, following the ECD sector's governance structure. In addition, it should ensure that confidentiality is safe guarded by developing specific standards for all stages in the monitoring process and should structure ease of access and utilisation at all levels - individual users, communities, ministries, and international organisations - to ensure stakeholder buy-in.