On March 20, 2025, the Early Childhood Workforce Initiative (ECWI) brought together regional networks, policymakers, donors, and global experts for a powerful and timely Global Dialogue on the Early Childhood Workforce. With voices from across the world, the gathering served as a reminder—and a rallying cry—that those who care for and educate young children must themselves be cared for, supported, and valued.
At a moment when the demands placed on early childhood professionals continue to grow, the Dialogue spotlighted the urgent need to professionalize, support, and invest in the early childhood workforce. Organized in partnership by ISSA, ARNEC, AfECN, and ANECD, and supported by the Early Childhood Regional Networks Fund, the event reflected not only years of regional work but a rising global momentum to advance systemic change.
A Shared Commitment Across Regions
Across all four regional networks, the message was clear: systemic transformation is only possible through collaboration, evidence, and sustained advocacy. Despite the diversity of contexts, speakers from Africa, the Arab States, Asia-Pacific, and Europe and Central Asia emphasized shared challenges: chronic underinvestment, fragmented systems, lack of data, and the low status and recognition of early childhood professionals.
Evelyn Santiago (Executive Director, ARNEC), Dr. Melissa Bartolome, and Dr. April Ann Curugan (Philippine Normal University) highlighted ARNEC’s regional push to integrate social-emotional learning (SEL) into early childhood systems. Their contributions showcased efforts including a large-scale training of trainers, mapping of SEL competencies, and the creation of a vibrant regional learning community.
Given Daka (Regional Coordinator, AfECN) and Lamin Jobe (Principal Education Officer, Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Gambia) emphasized the importance of evidence-based planning. They described how landscape analyses and workforce diagnostics—such as those conducted in The Gambia—revealed systemic barriers to professionalization and highlighted the need for a holistic, ecosystem approach to professional development and support.
Mohamad Al Bekaai (Regional Coordinator, ANECD) and Dr. Garene Kaloustian (ECD & ECE Specialist, Lead Researcher) presented ANECD’s three-pronged strategy: knowledge generation, policy influence, and global partnerships. Their reflections underscored the urgency of mapping working conditions and understanding professional development pathways, especially in crisis-affected contexts.
Zorica Trikic (Senior Program Manager, ISSA) and Gulbadan Zakayeva (Director, Community Educational Foundation "School for All", Kazakhstan) illustrated the "snowball effect" of cross-regional collaboration. They shared how initiatives embedded at the regional level have led to lasting change nationally—exemplified in Kazakhstan, where curriculum integration in pre-service preparation and more relevant in-service support have reached a large number of trainers and practitioners.
Drawing from each panelist’s insights, moderator Mihaela Ionescu (ISSA Program Director) emphasized the power of regional mobilization to drive country-level transformation and highlighted the vital link between shared learning and systemic reform. She underscored a key message: real change happens when systems are aligned with the needs and realities of the workforce. Integrating workforce development into national curricula, strengthening pre-service preparation, and tailoring in-service support are critical steps toward long-term, embedded change.
Common Challenges, Shared Vision
From teacher shortages to burnout, from limited professional development to poor working conditions, the Dialogue revealed how much the early childhood workforce shares across regions. But equally, it showcased the strength of cross-regional collaboration, and the potential to scale solutions, shape policy reform, and build a resilient, well-supported workforce.
Contributions from international organizations added another layer of perspective. Vidur Chopra (UNICEF ECARO) drew attention to structural and generational challenges—like an aging workforce, systems that lag behind adult learning science, and a lack of enabling environments that allow educators to grow and thrive. He emphasized the need for practical tools, leadership engagement, and support for practitioners to work in transdisciplinary teams and engage families more meaningfully.
Kyungah (Kristy) Bang (UNESCO Bangkok) underscored the pressing challenges of low status, limited access to professional development, and poor working conditions. She highlighted emerging regional priorities including leadership training, digital literacy, and support for workforce wellbeing—particularly in the face of stress and burnout. Her call for continuity across the early years and into primary education, especially in play-based learning, resonated with experiences shared across all four networks.
In a stirring final comment from the panel, Prof. Hasina Banu Ebrahim (UNESCO Co-Chair in ECD and Convener of the Knowledge Generation Working Group of the African Union CESA ECED Cluster)reframed the conversation as one not only of policy and practice but of justice. She spoke to the gendered nature of the early childhood workforce, where women—often unpaid or underpaid—carry the burden of care. She called out the social, economic, and knowledge injustices that underpin the profession, and challenged participants to confront the “fragmentation of a split system” that creates a broken, vulnerable workforce.
Prof. Ebrahim's call was unequivocal: Equal work must lead to equal pay. Fragmentation must give way to unity. Advocacy for the workforce is advocacy for the public good.
She closed with a powerful vision of a global compact—a solidarity network that brings together diverse actors under a shared commitment to uplift the early childhood workforce. It was, as one participant described, galvanizing.
The Path Forward
The Dialogue made clear that the future of early childhood development depends on recognizing, resourcing, and respecting the workforce at its core. Since 2016, ECWI has been at the forefront in advocating for it—uniting four regional networks in a coordinated effort that connects local realities with global momentum.
The Early Childhood Workforce Initiative stands as a unique example of how sustained, cross-regional collaboration can generate evidence, drive policy change, and elevate workforce development on national and global agendas. By linking local realities with regional leadership and global visibility, it offers a practical model for achieving real, system-level change. Recognizing the value of such an initiative is essential, especially as more partners consider how to meaningfully support the people behind early childhood systems.
Leadership, investment, and systems-level thinking are essential for lasting change. So too are partnerships—with families, ministries, academic institutions, and global agencies—that turn promising practices into enduring policies.
As Mihaela aptly summarized, both the message and the messenger matter. Elevating the early childhood workforce means not only making the case—but doing so through trusted voices, backed by evidence, and grounded in regional and cultural realities.
The path ahead requires that we not only listen to the workforce—but walk with them. That we move from evidence to action. From fragmentation to coherence. Because when we uplift those who uplift children, we lay the foundation for a more just, nurturing, and sustainable future—for everyone.
