The World Health Organization Country Office provided support to the Ministry of Health in conducting a virtual advocacy meeting with Members of Parliament on Nurturing Care for Early Childhood Development (ECD). A total of 22 parliamentarians selected from the Committees on Health, Community Development & Social Services; and Education, Science & Technology participated in the event which took place on 9 December 2020. Other UN agencies, cooperating partners and stakeholders in ECD participated in the meeting. The objective of the meeting was to orient the parliamentarians on the key elements in nurturing care for ECD, which are essential for any child to grow physically, mentally and psycho-socially. The forum also enabled a discussion on the potential roles that the lawmakers could play in rolling out this fundamental developmental agenda for the country.

The keynote speech was given by the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Kennedy Malama. In his statement, Dr. Malama reminded the legislators that the components of the nurturing care for early childhood development activities had been practiced before in community settings and extended family naturally. He called for support from all law makers through helping to create awareness in their respective constituencies and reminded them that a child neglected today became society’s future burden and that this was detrimental to national development.

The WHO Representative Dr. Nathan Bakyaita reiterated the unwavering support that WHO continued to offer for ECD and other health programmes. He urged the legislators to support policies and strategies that would groom the future leaders of Zambia. He also reminded the parliamentarians that the success of early childhood development lay in the adage “it takes a village to raise a child” which was a clear emphasis on the need for use of a multisectoral approach to ensure the success of ECD.

“The birth of a nation begins with the birth of every child; the development of a nation begins with the development of every child”
–    Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, Zambian first Republican President