Challenges of the Early Childhood Care in Russia: UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Bank and Regional Governments Perspectives

On March 25 and March 26, 2008 the Moscow Office of the World Bank is hosting the international workshop “Early Childhood Care: Effective Models and Policies” organized jointly with UNICEF and UNESCO. Among the participants were representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation, regional education authorities, representatives of teachers' skills enhancement establishments, international and Russian organizations, including the think-tanks, foundations and educational center, as well as UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank
 
The workshop was launched by. Marina V. Gordeeva, Deputy Director of the Department of Social-health problems of family, maternity and childhood of the Ministry of Health and Social Development, Denev Badarch, Director of the UNESCO Moscow Bureau, UNESCO representative for Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldova Republic, Belorussia and Russian Federation, Karel de Roy, Director and Representative in Russian Federation and Belorussia of the UNICEF, and Klaus Rohland, Country Director and Resident Representative of the World Bank in Russia ,.
 
"Our main challenge is to bring knowledge and international experience and to identify how to make the best use of it in Russia. To achieve this goal we need to learn from our Russian counterparts and their experience", said Klaus Rohland in his welcoming remarks and added. "Global experience and local applicability must go together to make a lasting difference for parents, children and Russia’s future”.
 
The key goal of the workshop is to support efficient government policy in preschool child education. The workshop is a platform for dialogue between the international community and the representatives of the government, including regional ones, on the best practice international and national examples of early childhood care.
 
Participants of the workshop looked into the best models and formats of preschool education and early child development. They have also shared the success stories as well as presented the best practice examples on implementation of the reforms and policies in their respective regions, with a view on the accessibility to services for various categories of preschool children.
 
The main challenge of the workshop was to take stock of the possibility of making good use of the best practice examples - organizational, institutional, and regulatory – in the Russian context.