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Promoting equitable provision of ECD services in conflict settings in Kenya through a centralized ECD data visualization platform

Sun, March 29, 4:30 to 5:45pm, Hilton, Floor: Sixth Floor - Tower 3, Nob Hill 4&5

Proposal

Background
Globally, nearly 250 million children are at risk of not attaining their full developmental potential due to intersecting factors such as poverty, poor health, and inadequate stimulation. This burden is disproportionately concentrated in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In Kenya, about 38.3% of children aged 3–4 years fail to reach key neurodevelopmental milestones (Harvard School of Public Health, 2016), with national surveys indicating that ~25% experience developmental delays (UNICEF 2020). Early Childhood Development (ECD) outcomes are supported by multiple sectors—including health, education, child protection, and social services. However, in Kenya, ECD monitoring remains fragmented across these sectors, with limited data integration to provide a unified picture of ECD performance. This hinders generation of comprehensive evidence, to inform decision-making and resource allocation for effective service delivery, especially for children in conflict-affected and other high-vulnerability settings.
We aim to promote equitable access to and provision of ECD services in conflict-affected and underserved settings in Kenya by co-developing, with stakeholders, a centralized digital ECD data visualization platform. The platform will integrate indicators across sectors for holistic visualization, monitoring, and reporting. Specific objectives are to: (i) profile existing ECD data systems and map stakeholders in Kenya and SSA; (ii) co-design a centralized ECD data visualization platform with stakeholders; and (iii) assess the platform’s feasibility for tracking ECD progress and identify strategies for national scale-up. This paper describes the development process of the ECD platform and offers reflections on how this platform is expected to enhance evidence-informed decision-making, program design, resource allocation, and service delivery. Ultimately the platform is expected to contribute to improved child outcomes in conflict-affected and other high-vulnerability contexts.

Methods
The study is being conducted in Isiolo, Nairobi and Homa Bay Counties. Isiolo County is affected by civil conflicts, which undermine children’s wellbeing, development, and learning. A participatory mixed-methods approach is being employed in four phases: [i] a scoping review of existing systems and stakeholder mapping; [ii] a survey of existing ECD data systems; [iii] co-design of the data platform; and [iv] feasibility testing of the platform, as outlined below.

Phase 1: A scoping review and stakeholder mapping were conducted to profile ECD data systems in the respective counties and map stakeholders involved in their implementation. We assessed how specific ECD indicators in routine data in health, nutrition, early learning, responsive caregiving, child safety and security are captured, recorded, and reported. We also assessed the tools used, available infrastructure and capacity, approaches to data management, use, and maintenance, the software used, and the data quality. The scoping review was extended to the national and regional levels to understand existing data systems and platforms and how these can be adapted to the Kenyan context.

Phase 2: A survey of existing ECD data management systems is being conducted through interviews with county teams from the health, education and social protection sectors, and with external partners that support ECD. The survey seeks to gather detailed information on the systems in use, the indicators monitored, ICT infrastructure, staff skills and roles, how frequent data systems update, and existing gaps and capacity needs.
Phase 3: Entails co-creation with stakeholders. Guided by the information obtained from the scoping review and survey, we will hold a series of co-creation workshops with cadres involved in ECD indicator data management and reporting across sectors. The goal is to develop a centralized ECD data visualization dashboard that pools different indicators into a single platform. The stakeholders will include policy makers, implementers healthcare providers, educationists, social services personnel, and other relevant actors at all levels. The platform will be anchored in the existing structures, resources and data frameworks, while also incorporating capacity strengthening where needed.

Phase 4: It will involve feasibility testing, and refining and documentation of the platform. The platform will be piloted to examine its functionality, usability, traffic, uptake by decision makers and service providers at different levels on the reporting pathway, and use for evidence-informed decision-making. Insights will be gathered on enablers and barriers to implementation, opportunities for improvement and factors that can promote the platform’s sustainability and scale-up.

Expected Impact
The main outcome of this initiative will be the establishment of a functional, sustainable, and multi-sectoral ECD data visualization platform that consolidates key ECD indicators across sectors to enable effective tracking of performance. This will enable data-driven decision-making, planning, programing, policy making, and resource allocation to ensure that all children receive the services they need to thrive and achieve their developmental potential. The platform is expected to be particularly transformative for children in conflict-affected and other high-vulnerability settings.
Detailed information on the platform development process and key insights and lessons learned so far will be presented at the conference.

References
1.Harvard School of Public Health, Saving Brains Initiative, Grand Challenges Canada. (2016). “One Third of Children in Low- and Middle-Income countries fail to reach developmental milestones.”
2.UNICEF (2020). In Homa Bay, teenage girls face high risk of HIV and unintended pregnancy: Gender inequality, difficulties in accessing services and poverty are fuelling high rates of teenage pregnancies and HIV in Homa Bay. https://www.unicef.org/kenya/stories/homa-bay-teenage-girls-face-high-risk-hiv-and-unintended-pregnancy.

Authors