Next steps for sustaining the intervention at scale, 2022 and beyond
Since the launch of the revised 2016 National Early Childhood Development Policy, there has been major efforts to create an enabling environment for nurturing care including the creation of the National Child Development Agency (NCDA) to oversee policy implementation and multisectoral coordination, and the expansion of IZUs terms of reference to include ECD. GoR and its partners have jointly developed the national parenting education framework. However, there is still work to be done to understand what works well in terms of building the capacity, skills, and efficacy of front-line workers such as IZUs and as well as scaling and sustaining parenting education and support for female and male caregivers/parents, as a key step to operationalizing the parenting education framework. There is a need to address gaps around ECD frontline work capacity and incentives. There is also a need to enhance the involvement of community leaders in the implementation of ECD activities at the community level. Evidence and learning from projects such as First Steps “Intera za Mbere” can bridge the gap in knowledge on how to maintain quality and fidelity of implementation at scale through existing government mechanisms.