Overview > The ELMA Foundation > Early Childhood Development
Focus Area:
Early Childhood Development
We succeed when more children develop to their full potential, and when early childhood services reach the most vulnerable children.
Scaling ECD in South Africa aims to strengthen the early childhood development eco-system to enable universal ECD access
Strengthening ECD in Uganda aims to expand access to ECD services, improve their quality, and grow the government’s capacity to deliver, measure, and improve them.
Current Investments
Project support for the Perinatal Mental Health Project to strengthen maternal mental health and responsive caregiving
General support to an organization scaling a tech-based foundational learning intervention
Project support to scale and sustain an evidence-based ECD program to improve parenting practices and kindergarten quality in partnership with the government
General support for an established resource and training organization that is expanding and enhancing the quality of the ECD workforce
General support to an organization scaling its daily school feeding program to reach one million children in Kenya, and providing support to other African countries in designing and implementing effective school feeding programs
General support for an organization scaling up a quality improvement model in 1,000 new ECD centers each year
General support for an organization supporting African networks, organizations, and governments to design and roll out best practices, policies, and tools for ECD
Project support for the Children’s Institute, South Africa’s leading child-focused research, advocacy, and policy development institute
General support for a social enterprise providing quality improvement services to a network of self-sustaining, low-cost ECD centers in urban Kenya and Addis Ababa
General support for an ongoing social justice program focused on advancing the realization of children’s rights in South Africa
Project support to incubate and implement a seven-year initiative endorsed by the South African Office of the Presidency to drive improved outcomes for children across a comprehensive package of early childhood services as part of its National Program of Action for Children
Project support to equip public daycare centres as part of the City of Addis Ababa’s Future Hope of Addis ECD initiative
General support for a new organization focused on capacity building, policy development, and implementation research to advance ECD efforts
General support to a social enterprise that supports the collection and use of high-quality data to improve outcomes and access to early learning for children
General support for an organization providing children with quality early childhood education, nutrition, health, and basic services in the rural Xhora Mouth Administrative Area, Eastern Cape
General support for an organization improving access to quality ECD services and programs for children ages 0-6 across four provinces
Project support for Grow Great, a national campaign to significantly reduce stunting by 2030
General support to the non-profit arm of an ECD social enterprise that is building a low-fee, high-quality early learning model by partnering with property developers in the social and affordable housing sector
General support to an organization that coordinates civil society stakeholders and strengthens the capacity of key government entities to develop and implement policies and guidelines for the ECD sector
General support for a social justice law clinic working to support access to quality early childhood development and education using strategic litigation, advocacy, and policy development support
Project support to establish and expand a cost-effective, replicable daily school feeding program to reach up to 87,000 pre-primary children annually by 2027 in partnership with the government of Murang’a, Nairobi, and Mombasa counties
General support for an organization that designs, demonstrates, and advocates for the implementation of improved ECD systems that will enable the delivery of quality ECD services at scale to the poorest 40% of children, from conception to five years of age
General support for an organization providing a comprehensive package of quality ECD services to a network of ECD centers in southern KwaZulu-Natal and northern Eastern Cape
Project support to strengthen the capacity of government and other critical stakeholders to implement and monitor a new country-wide kindergarten policy
General support for an ECD training and implementation organization focused on increasing access to quality services through the training and upskilling of ECD practitioners in rural Eastern Cape for children from birth to six years old
Project support to improve quality, consistency, and coverage of parenting programs by institutionalizing a technical training resource hub and expanding the evidence-based Parenting for Respectability program to five districts
General support for an organization leading a national network of 21 self-sufficient, independent ECD organizations to improve the quality of ECD service provisions and teacher training in eight of the country's nine provinces
Project support to improve access to quality ECD services for 7,000 children, strengthen parent and caregiver knowledge and skills, and replicate best practices of a community-based ECD model
General support for an organization focused on advancing the quality of ECD teacher education
