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international development community, is largely a result of the expertise and dedication of local advocates and practitioners. Lesson # 5: Partnerships are imperative
The strength of the global ecd community relies on partnership. No one organisation can do it alone. Working on ecd for the past two and half years, the Wolfensohn Center has not only come to appreciate the many partnerships that have allowed our work to progress, but has also come to admire the incredible unity of the
"The biggest lesson we have learned in these two and a half years is that advocacy opportunities are everywhere."
global ecd community. In many sectors of global development, international organisations are in competition (for funding, for the attention of local governments, etc) but in many parts of the world, the global ecd community is able to unite to effectively support the development of children and thus the reduction of poverty for generations to come. Lesson # 6: Advocacy opportunities are everywhere
We started our advocacy work with lists: lists of country level stakeholders that needed to be convinced of
Scaling up Early Child Development
the importance of ecd, a list of international donor institutions that do not yet prioritize ecd, a list of private sector stakeholders that should be convinced to support ecd, and the lists went on. All of these lists were, and continue to be, of great use to our advocacy planning, but the biggest lesson we have learned in these two and a half years is that advocacy opportunities are everywhere. We don’t need to wait until we sit down at a table full of finance ministers or stand in front of a room of private sector leaders to advocate for ecd. Every day, in our professional and personal lives, we encounter numerous people who do not understand the importance of ecd. Their ignorance supports the walls that the global ecd community works to break down. The knowledge held by global ecd professionals and advocates needs to be shared everywhere and with everyone. Many people do not know the simple fact that nearly every child is born with the ability to physically and mentally develop to be able to start school, excel in school, acquire the skills necessary for transition from education to employment, and thus become able to support themselves and their family. This fact holds the potential to lift future generations out of poverty. Global ecd advocates need to spread this message not only to finance ministers and donor institutions, but to our friends, families, and neighbors.