Accelerating Early Childhood Education and Development in West and Central Africa by 2030 and Beyond

Report of the expert meeting: Accelerating early childhood education and development in West and Central Africa by 2030 and b eyond  
 
 
 
  
  
Expert Meeting on Early Childhood Education  
and Development (ECED) in West and Central Afric a 
 
Final report | Dakar, Senegal (20 -22 January 2026)  
 
Accelerating the Transformation of Early Childhood Education and Development Systems in 
West and Central Africa: From Scientific Evidence to Policy Implementation  
The Expert Meeting on Early Childhood Education and Development (ECED), held in Dakar from 20 
to 22 January 2026, brought together government representatives, regional organizations, 
technical and financial partners, and civil society actors from West and Central Africa. With five 
years remaining until the 2030 deadline, discussions highlighted the urgency of accelerating the 
transformation of ECED systems in the face of persistent constraints, including underfunding, 
institutional fragmentation, shortages of qualified personnel, and insufficient actionable data. The 
meeting emphasized the need to move from a logic of commitment to a logic of implementation, 
grounded in strengthened governance, coherent financing, improved service quality, and the 
integratio n of crisis resilience. The discussions resulted in the development of an operational 
Roadmap in preparation for the 2026 Ministerial Conference.  
SN/ED/2026/RP/H/01
Report of the expert meeting: Accelerating early childhood education and development in West and Central Africa by 2030 and b eyond  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
Published in 202 6 by the Bureau régional  multisectoriel de l’UNESCO pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest (Sahel)  
Almadies, Route de la plage de Ngor, BP 3311, Dakar, S enegal. 
 
© UNESCO 202 6  
   
  
  
 
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Cover photo:  UNESCO  

 
 
 
 
  Acknowledgements1 
We would like to express our deep gratitude to all the institutions and partners who contributed to 
the success of this Expert Meeting on Early Childhood Education and Development in West and 
Central Africa, 20 -22 January 2026, Dakar, Senegal.  
First and foremost, we would like to acknowledge the institutional supp

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