1. 14 October 2008 CG Annual Consultation Budapest, Hungary

2. Overview of Presentation Overview of ARNEC Key activities 2008 Intro to EFA Info

3. ARNEC Mission The Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC) is a professional network established to build strong partnerships in early childhood across sectors and different disciplines in the Asia-Pacific Region. ARNEC aims to strengthen advocacy, policy reviews and development, research and innovative practices in early childhood at national and regional levels with the goals of aligning these to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and achieving the objectives of optimal holistic development for all children.

4. ARNEC Objectives Expand the knowledge base on innovative practices in early childhood in the region; Analyze, synthesize and disseminate information in ways accessible and useful to a wide range of actors and stakeholders from different disciplines; Create capacity building opportunities; and Leverage human, institutional and financial resources in support of early childhood development.

5. Key Guiding Documents Preliminary Drafts of Key Documents ▫ARNEC Bylaws ▫ARNEC Internal Rules ▫ARNEC Work Plan ▫Criteria for ARNEC Secretariat Base Ongoing Revision Since Then…

6. Core Donors Expansion of Core Donors ▫UNESCO Asia Pacific Regional Bureau for Education ▫Plan International, Regional Office for Asia ▫UNICEF ( EAPRO, ROSA, HQ) ▫Open Society Foundation (OSF) – A new Core Donor ▫Save the Children Alliance – Core Donor status in discussion

7. Steering Committee Mahmuda Akhter Head ECDRC, BRAC University Institute of Educational Development BANGLADESH Nirmala Rao Professor Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong HK, SAR, CHINA Zhou Xin Professor of Early Childhood Education Department of Early Childhood Education, East China Normal University CHINA Divya Lata Senior Program Officer Network Early Childhood Program, Open Society Foundation GLOBAL Adarsh Sharma Consultant Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance, Academy for Educational Development INDIA Ng Soo Boon Head Preschool Unit, Curriculum Development Centre, Ministry of Education MALAYSIA Kishor Shrestha Associate Professor Research Center for Educational Innovation and Development, Tribhuvan University NEPAL Karen Haive First Assistant Secretary Policy & Regulatory Services, Department of Community Development PAPUA NEW GUINEA Marilyn F. Manuel Deputy Director for ECCD Concerns Council for the Welfare of Children PHILIPPINES Mohammad Mohsin Regional ECD Advisor, Plan Asia REGIONAL Maki Hayashikawa Programme Specialist in Gender and Quality Basic Education APPEAL Unit, UNESCO/Bangkok REGIONAL Cliff Meyers Regional Education Adviser UNICEF EAPRO REGIONAL Kok Siat Yeow Assistant Director, RTRC ASIA Pte. Ltd. SINGAPORE Jenny James National Preschool Coordinator Ministry of Education VANUATU

8. Membership: Individual Members ▫Membership is free and open to any individual in the field of early childhood who is concerned with young children and families of Asia and Pacific, and who supports, follows and draws from the work of the Network. ▪Have contributed to and worked in support of EC through related fields ▪Have potential to contribute to and support the work of the network at the local, national, or regional level

9. Membership: Individual Membership ▫Free of charge. Registration last for 1 year (w. re-registration required) ▫No limit on membership by employer, nation, religion, or by any other grouping/characteristic. Does not represent any affiliation with member’s employer or institution ▫Receives regular newsflashes and newsletters, access to member- only data, opportunities to join Task Forces/Committees, and more! ▫Currently over 250 members from 30 countries

10. Membership: Institutional Members ▫Core Group/Donors ▫Friends of ARNEC ▪Membership criteria/requirements under development

11. A Growing Network & Partnerships Formal Linkages with the Consultative Group on ECCD ▫ARNEC is the “official” Asia-Pacific network linked to the CG Expressions of Interest from Potential Members/Partners ▫Global, regional and national networks ▫Organizations interested in joining as partners or institutional members Informal Linkages with Regional Networks ▫Informal linkages with networks in other regions

12. 2008 Activities

13. Communication TF The Communication TF works to build effective communication for networking, knowledge building and advocacy within the ARNEC network and with stakeholders and broader audiences in Asia Pacific and beyond. Key Activities ARNEC Logo ARNEC monthly Newsflash & Newsletter (The first issue will be published by the end of December)

14. Policy & Advocacy TF promotes effective policy development and implementation to support optimal holistic development of all children through policy review, communication and advocacy activities. Key activities Regional EC Advocacy materials development based on the 4 cornerstones Support EC Advocacy and Awareness Campaign at country level Policy & Advocacy TF

15. Regional EC Advocacy materials development based on the 4 cornerstones There will be 4-5 materials, including one for each of the 4 Cornerstones, and potentially a supplement providing more general background on Early Childhood Development. Each material may potentially include the following four components: 1.1) Description and explanation of the key messages in the relevant Cornerstone 2.2) Available data and situational analysis from the region 3.3) Available research in support of key messages, with a preference for research from the region 4.4) Examples of innovative practices from the region to demonstrate the possibilities for supporting ECD in Asia-Pacific contexts Regional Early Childhood Advocacy Materials

16. The Research TF works to strengthen research on early childhood within the region, expand the knowledge-base on innovative practices and disseminate analysis and information for a variety of audiences. Key Activities Early Childhood Mapping Compilation of key EC research and research resources (researchers, institutes, databases, journals, etc.) in the region Compilation of Innovative Early Childhood Practices Research TF

17. Our goal is to obtain a national picture of activities and efforts related to Early Childhood in each country Country coordinators identified in 21 countries; data collections underway Some of these data, along with information from already available sources uploaded on the ARNEC website by the end of December EC mapping survey content 1.Policy and advocacy 2.Parenting 3.Research 4.Innovative practices 5.Standards 6.Child protection 7.Emergency preparedness Early Childhood Mapping Initiative

19. Overview EFAInfo 1.0 was developed to support countries in Asia Pacific to better monitor Education for All – particularly on the occasion of the EFA Mid-Decade Assessment. EFAInfo is based on DevInfo software – and can be easily linked/adapted to existing EMIS EFAInfo incorporates indicators on the following EFA Goals and reflects in its structure the set of MDA indicators – both core and policy/system indicators Based on DevInfo, a free software developed to monitor the MDGs and implemented in many countries across the world Release scheduled for late 2008 / early 2009 – by CDROM and on the web.

20. A Common Database System features Contains EFA MDA indicators, ready for customization, data entry and use Compiles all relevant data in one system, allowing for multiple sources of data Facilitates easy retrieval of data Provides for analysis of trends over time Integrates powerful presentation tools (table, graph, map)

21. Indicator Metadata 21 19 September 2008

22. Partnerships Adaptations Customized Databases More than 40 national statistics organizations and other agencies have adapted DevInfo database technology to user-specified requirements

23. Objectives at 2 levels Provide a tool and template for national implementation and the develop of systems to better compile, monitor, present and analyze education data To develop a regional database as record of the Asia and Pacific EFA MDA integrated with education-related, national and sub-national data, including:

24. Objective 1: Tool for national implementation Very versatile tool. EFA Info can be adapted so that indicators match existing data sets and studies Countries can upload data easily from Excel files, revising the template to accept data on new indicators Map files exist for countries, regions, provinces and in some cases, districts.

25. Objective 2: Database Contents National EFA Mid-Decade Assessment Data EFA GMR (latest) SOWC (latest) MICS3 – now seeking results from MICS3 in S.Asia and CARK MICS 2 – though this data not as complete as MICS3 GenderInfo LLSMS DHS EMIS from selected countries Special Surveys on disabilities, literacy, learning achievement

26. National Activities Cambodia: CamInfo very developed already Excellent disaggregated data prepared for EFA MDA Report EMIS is well advanced, and linked to EFAInfo MICS and other surveys uploaded Capacity in MOE and in National Statistics Bureau to use CamInfo and EFAInfo exists Mongolia: MongolInfo exists EMIS and MICS data already uploaded M&E position is newly create and staff lack general knowledge of education indicators EFAInfo training conducted for Education M&E staff from 22 provinces to develop provincial databases and to compile EFA data. Piloting Provincial database to monitor EFA Takijstan: TajikInfo exists MICS data in process of being uploaded Nepal: NepalInfo exists Excellent disaggregated data already uploaded Capacity with counterparts to use DevInfo already built Sri Lanka: Just don’t know

27. Objectives at 2 levels Regional Develop a regional database as record of the Asia and Pacific EFA MDA integrated with education-related, national and sub-national data. Coverage includes: ▫Central Asia ▫South Asia ▫East Asia ▫South-East Asia ▫Pacific Complementing regional initiatives underway: ASPBAE Info 27 19 September 2008

28. Database Contents National Education data ▫National EFA Mid-Decade Assessment Data ▫Education Statistics reports International data ▫EFA Global Monitoring Report (UNESCO) ▫State of the World’s Children Report (UNICEF) ▫GenderInfo (UNSD) ▫Millennium Development Goals (UNDP) Household survey data ▫Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) – South, East and Central Asia ▫Living standards survey (LLSMS) ▫Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) Special studies ▫Literacy, Disabilities, Caste and Ethnicity, Economic surveys 440,000 data points from 210 sources 28 19 September 2008

29. Source: Mongolia, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science

31. Source Thailand MICS 2006

32. Source: EFA GMR 2008, Mongolia, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science

33. Source: Mongolia, Statistical yearbooks, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science

34. Source: Mongolia MICS, 2005

35. Timeline New Secretariat Base for ARNEC

36. ARNEC Website http://www2.unescobkk.org/ARNEC ARNEC website will have a new outlook by end October 2008!

37. Thank you very much!