Using UNCRC Rights in Early Childhood as a tool for achieving

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Using UNCRC Rights in Early Childhood as a tool
for achieving equity from the start

• Clyde Hertzman
• Human Early Learning Partnership
• Council for Early Child Development

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• What influences early child development?
• The experiences
• children have in
• the environments
• where they grow up, live and
• learn.

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Which Environments Matter?
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Life Course Problems Related to Early Life
Experiences
2nd Decade
3rd/4th Decade
5th/6th Decade
Old Age

• School Failure
• Teen Pregnancy
• Criminality

• Obesity
• Elevated Blood
• Pressure
• Depression

• Coronary Heart Disease
• Diabetes

• Premature Aging
• Memory Loss

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• Equity from the Start

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The Early Development Instrument
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Early Development Instrument

• 104 items
• Extensive validity and reliability data from
  several countries
• Not a test
• Teacher at age 5 is respondent
• Five developmental domains, with sixteen
  subdomains
• A guide with explanations available

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What Does the EDI Measure?
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• EDI is
• a population-based tool
• a mobilisation tool
• a monitoring tool

EDI is not -an individual assessment -a
prescription for action -perfect
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QuestionDoes the following represent a rights
violation under the UN-CRC?
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BC 45 of neighbourhood variability in EDI
vulnerability assoc. with SES
High
vuln on EDI
Low
SES
Disadvantaged
Advantaged
Source Kershaw et al. 2009, 15 by 15 A
Comprehensive Policy Framework for Early Human
Capital Investment in BC, Table 1.
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According to UN-CRCGC 7 the answer is
yes thus. UN-CRC GC 7 Indicators Group

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Who is involved in UN-CRC GC 7 Indicators group?
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BvL
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What is a CRC General Comment?

• 1989 The Child Right Convention, CRC
• 2004 General Comment 7 (GC 7) Implementing
  child rights in early childhood

General Comments
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Why a General Comment on Rights in Early
Childhood?
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Why indicators? Why monitoring?

• Procedural rights
• vs
• Substantive rights

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Why indicators? Why monitoring?

• Procedural rights immediate realization
• Substantive rights progressive
  realization

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Why indicators? Why monitoring?

• UNCRCGC7 is mostly about substantive rights
• You can only tell if there is progressive
  realization by monitoring over time.
• Monitoring can create a bridge between
  population health and human rights.

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UN-CRC GC-7 Indicators

• 2005 group approached CRC, arguing that GC7 is
  impractical and underused..need
  user-friendly and useful GC7 indicators
• 2006 UN-CRC invites us to develop indicators
• 2006-2008 indicators of GC7 were completed
• May 2008 GC7 indicators were presented to CRC

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UN-CRC GC 7 Indicators were meant to

• Assist States Parties with preparation of their
  report to UN-CRC
• Monitor the progressive realization of rights in
  early childhood

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CRC Reviews the information
Concluding Observations
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CRC Reviews the information
Concluding Observations
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We created15 Indicator Clusters matching CRC
reporting guidelines

• General Measures of Implementation (4)

1. Dissemination of GC7
2. Constructing and implementing the positive agenda
3. Human Rights training
4. Data collection system

• Civil rights and freedoms (1)

Birth registration

• Family environment and alternative care (2)

1. Participation in household decision making
2. Violence against young children

• Basic health and welfare (3)

1. Basic material needs
2. Child survival and health
3. Age-appropriate health education

• Education, leisure and cultural activities (4)

1. Early education service provision
2. Educational service provision for vulnerable
3. Knowledge of right and capacity to support it
4. Play, leisure and rest opportunitites

• Special protection measures (1)

Inclusive policy and provisions for vulnerable
groups
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GC7 PARA/ REPORTING GUIDELINE
Structural Components of Indicators
DUTY BEARERS
SOURCES OF INFO
OUTCOME
PROCESS
STRUCTURE
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Rationale for Indicator Structure

• they correspond to the duties of states parties,
  i.e.

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No
Yes
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Retrospective cash transfer of Peru http//www.uni
cef.org/files/Conditional_Cash_Transfers_In_Peru_-
_Tackling_The_Multi-Dimensionality_Of_Poverty_And_
Vulnerability.pdf
Mobile brigades in Mozambique http//www.unicef.o
rg/mozambique/protection_4904.html
Retrospective birth registration of
Senegal http//www.planusa.org/stuff/contentmgr/f
iles/d9ee355af9fc9e39564ba31f686d519b/miscdocs/cou
ntmein.pdf
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Experience of Senegal
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Sample flowchartwww.childrightsimpact.info/ecri
m/flowchart5
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Tanzania as a suitable pilot country

• Has ratified CRC in 1991
• Suitable reporting timeline (next report due
  2012)
• National awareness to invest in ECD (Integrated
  ECD strategy, Child Act and)
• Number of on-going projects by international
  agencies to build up ECD capacity (CRED-PRO, EFA
  of WB)

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Objectives of the pilot

• To test the relevance and feasibility of each
  indicator
• To further refine the indicators and the flow
  charts
• To understand whether or not the process serves
  as an effective means of report writing as well
  as a national, institutional self-study

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What was our pilot testing strategy?

• To achieve maximum government civil society
  buy-in for the pilot.

• To strengthen initiatives around the early
  childhood policies, training, services and
  rights.

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How did we structure the pilot?
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Steering Committee
Off-site Task Force
On-site Task Force
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Sequence of the events

• Feasibility assessment, February 2009

• Face-to-face meeting of the team to finalize the
• pilot country and plan the pilot, April 2009

• Identifying the stakeholders and bringing them
  around
• one table, September 2009

What should our pilot testing strategy be?

• Establishing the project team in the country,
  Sept 2009

• Formation and training of the task force, Dec 2009

• Face validation of the flow charts, Jan, 2010

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Sequence of the events.

• The pilot, January-May 2010

• Mid-term evaluation, March 2010

• Review of the pilot data, May 2010

What should our pilot testing strategy be?

• Informing CRC on the outcome of the pilot, June
  14th 2010

• Informing the country on the outcome of the pilot
  and
• wrapping up the pilot, June 22nd 2010

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Benefits for pilot country
Awareness raising
How many Nos, how many Yess in the system?
How to turn Nos to Yess?

• Capacity building

• Better reporting system

How to use Yess and Nos to describe the
status of child rights in the country and
communicate it to UN-CRC?
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The Forward Plan

• Revise Indicators and Manual in light of
  Tanzanian pilot
• Identify 2-3 middle and upper income countries
  for second stage implementationCanada????
• Complete second stage implementation in 2010/2011
• Present final Indicators and Manual to UN-CRC
  Monitoring Committee
• Have Indicators promulgated for use in all 193
  signatory countries

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For further infovisit the Global Knowledge
Hub for ECD at http//www.earlylearning.ubc.ca/g
lobalknowledgehubor contact --ziba.vaghri_at_ubc.c
a