Ilifa Labantwana (Ilifa) is a national Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme, initiated and supported by a donor partnership that aims to provide implementation evidence, build national capacity and galvanise informed political support for the provision of quality ECD services at scale, with particular focus on the poorest 40% of the population from pregnancy to 6 years of age.
 

 

• Clinic- and community-based programmes for pregnant women and children during the first two years of life (the first 1,000 days) – there’s a call to maximise opportunities during antenatal and post-natal clinic visits and immunization to counsel women regarding self-care, infant health, growth and learning, and provide supportive home visits to vulnerable mothers and families during pregnancy and infancy (including teenage mothers, HIV-positive mothers and mothers with problems with mental health, substance use and/or domestic violence), and conduct clinic- and community-based support groups for women and women+babies that address self-care and infant health, nutrition, growth and learning.

 

• Elimination of nutritional stunting – there a call to address severely malnourished infants and eliminate stunting through improved food security, intensified home- and community-based nutritional support, and effective management of children who are undernourished through the promotion and support of exclusive breastfeeding, starting before birth and sustained for six months, counseling to support appropriate and responsive complementary feeding, including to prevent overweight, growth monitoring, early identification of growth faltering and referral for investigation and follow-up for all children aged 0-2 years of age.

 

• Community- and centre-based early learning programmes – a call to ensure that all children, especially those in poor, under-served areas, have opportunities to learn by maximising the services of for- and non-profit organizations providing early learning programmes in centres and communities, together with other non-governmental, municipal and traditional facilities, libraries and so on, and using the spaces for mother support groups, parent/family support groups, mother-child and child only learning and play groups, mobile early learning programmes, and toy libraries.

 

• More effective prevention of childhood disability through safer pregnancies, birth and early care and better support for children with disabilities, including early learning programmes - a call to reduce pregnancy and birth complications by improving the quality of antenatal and delivery care. Most early childhood disabilities result from complications of pregnancy and delivery, as well as accidents and injuries sustained in early childhood, this can be prevented through effective parenting and public safety information programmes, as well as safe product packaging and control

 

• A national communications strategy – a call to increase parental demand for early learning opportunities for their children through public communication about the importance of early child development for health, education and earnings across the lifecourse and to ensure that societal leaders and the public appreciate the importance of the early years and how the development of young children can be nurtured and protected.