Southern Africa Regional Conference on Early Childhood Development and Education 5th – 7th November, 2024

We, the delegates from 9 countries in the Southern African region, one country from East Africa, and the USA, including Government representatives from Ministries of Education, and Social Development, UNICEF, NECDOL, Roger Federer Foundation, WFP, CRS, academia, researchers, NGOs, ECD Networks, LCN, private sector representatives and the media, gathered in Maseru, Lesotho, for the Southern Africa Regional Conference on Early Childhood Development and Education on 5th – 7th of November, 2024. Responding to the theme: "Beyond Bricks and Mortar: Investing in ECDE, our most valuable asset-building blocks for the future" at this august three-day platform, stakeholders in ECDE convened to take stock of the status of ECD in the region and to deliberate on how to make concrete progress in line with the vision and aspirations of the AU Agenda 2063 and the Global Sustainable Development goals- SDG4, especially SDG 4.2, Expressing appreciation to the Government of Lesotho, Ministry of Education and Training for hosting this significant conference in partnership with the Network of Early Childhood Development of Lesotho (NECDOL) and UNICEF as co-hosts, Inspired by the SDG 4.2, "By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education", and the goal of achieving an Africa fit for children by the year 2040, and motivated to contribute to the realization of the Agenda 2063 on the Africa We Want, Recognizing the constitutional, legal and policy instruments formulated to create a framework for the realization of the rights of all African children including the UN,