Improving Early Childhood Development in Informal Settlements

Slum Dwellers International (SDI), in partnership with the Centre for Early Childhood Development and the Van Leer Foundation, explored how to enhance early childhood development in slums and informal settlements across Africa. This learning brief is based on a project that sought to expand the knowledge base on early childhood development in urban informal settlements and co-develop practical solutions to improve access to and quality of early childhood services, as well as caregiver wellbeing.

The brief presents an overview of the project, detailing the participatory methodology used and the key insights gained. It highlights essential factors that contributed to the project’s success, offering guidance for scaling and replication in similar contexts, as well as detailed accounts of the interventions carried out in Senegal, South Africa and Uganda.

“This project demonstrated that interventions built on the social, political and intellectual capital of women and caregivers living in informal settlements can strengthen the evidence base of community-led interventions and make significant contributions to enhancing early childhood development and caregiver well-being in informal settlements.”

To ensure interventions were grounded in real community needs, the project focused on three settlements: Dakar (Senegal), Cape Town (South Africa), and Kampala (Uganda). A community-driven approach was adopted, where trained local members conducted surveys to identify key challenges and priorities. This participatory process not only provided rich, context-specific insights but also fostered community ownership of the project.

Following the surveys, each community designed an intervention tailored to its unique needs. The initiatives prioritised creating safe play spaces in Senegal and Uganda, while in South Africa, efforts were directed at improving the infrastructure of three local early childhood development centres. Across all three locations, additional components included early childhood development training for parents, and community awareness campaigns to strengthen support for early childhood services.

Throughout the project’s eight-month implementation period, community groups received technical training and support to enhance the effectiveness of their interventions. Continuous learning was facilitated through a mix of in-person and online meetings, culminating in an in-person learning exchange. This exchange provided a platform for project teams to share successes, discuss challenges, and explore strategies for scaling early childhood development interventions within the SDI network and beyond.

The findings from this initiative underscore the power of community-led approaches in addressing the needs of young children and caregivers in informal settlements. By integrating community insights, fostering local ownership, and supporting knowledge-sharing across networks, the project has set a foundation for scalable and sustainable early childhood development interventions in similar urban contexts.