1. Towards a concrete and costed ECD action plan Case studies from Burkina Faso and The Gambia Alain Mingat

2. Beyond the general vision Burkina Faso and The Gambia have both elaborated an ECD strategy. The strategy document had been validated or was in the process of validation by the government. However, both documents were very general and the validation would not lead to any real commitment for political decision makers.

3. Essential Questions What coverage do we want to achieve within a given time frame (2015) ? Which services (other sectors and ECD specific) do we envision, how will they be organized and how will selectivity be managed? At what unit cost and with which structure of financing will these services be delivered? What are the budget implications? (for recurrent and capital expenditures) What will the sources of funding be for these expenditures? (necessity to maintain financial sustainability)

4. The need for an instrument for structuring responses to these questions and defining an ECD program Distinguish between coordination activities and specific ECD activities Distinguish between specific child oriented activities that take place within the family and activities for children grouped within a structure Identify alternative and concrete options for organizing these activities

5. A simulation model to translate the activities defined into expenditures and assess program sustainability Establish the demographic basis Define initial financial constraints Define objectives with regards to coverage and types of services Define a structure to translate potential concrete activities into unit costs of services Project recurrent and capital expenditure from now until the horizon of the program Test practical feasibility, calculate the financing gap and assess financial sustainability of the program Revise the objectives for resource mobilization, coverage and service delivery parameters to achieve sustainability