Africa Childcare Forum
- 6-9 May 2025
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About the Forum
The Africa Childcare Forum (ACFKigali2025) is the largest global childcare event, presenting a unique opportunity for setting the foundation for accelerating the provision of quality, affordable childcare across the continent.
It offers the opportunity for accelerated action on childcare on the continent. Participants will reflect on the childcare crisis on the continent, build connections across cultures and boundaries and come up with bold, ambitious solutions to accelerate quality, affordable childcare for all on the continent. It offers an opportunity to take stock of what has worked, what hasn’t worked and what hasn’t worked across the continent and the lessons that can be learned and applied across African countries.
The event was conceived by Uthabiti Africa in 2019 and is convened by the Collaborative Action for Childcare in Africa platform as one of the major strategies aimed at advancing the childcare agenda on the continent.
The event will create the connections and interactions necessary for accelerated focus on childcare as a critical enabler for the continent’s post-COVID-19 recovery and the future of the continent’s human development potential.
Whilst the Conference is Africa-focused, it is open to participants from across the globe interested in learning and sharing their experiences to help accelerate quality, affordable childcare for all in Africa.
The event is convened by the Collaborative Action for Childcare, the pan-African platform that connects state and non-state actors on the continent to advance the childcare agenda, and established by Uthabiti Africa to accelerate quality, affordable childcare for all.
Preparatory Activities
In preparation for the Conference, a series of events are organized. These include the Annual Childcare Conference 2024 in Nairobi as well as events in Kigali, November 2024, and Malawi early 2025.
Objectives of the Forum
- To bring organizations, governments, CSOs, funders, and development partners together to promote dialogue on childcare
- To offer an opportunity for stakeholders to specifically share ideas, create a Pan-African agenda to increase knowledge and understanding on how to strengthen the development of strategic and operational actions on childcare in Africa
- To reflect on strategies to strengthen support for caregivers and link this to Women’s Economic Empowerment.
- To explore ways to accelerate financing for the childcare ecosystem at scale
Call for Papers and Sessions
The Collaborative Action for Childcare’s Africa Childcare Forum 2025 will spark conversations and connections to accelerate quality, affordable childcare for all in Africa. The event will enable over 500 participants to advance knowledge, and understanding while sharing skills and expertise, making it the spark-point for unprecedented changes in policy and practice on childcare across the continent. At this first Forum, attendees will hear from researchers, policymakers, caregivers, funders, and a broad range of stakeholders about what needs to be done towards collective impact on childcare in Africa.
If you are working to advance the childcare agenda in Africa or globally and have research you would like to share with the emerging African childcare ecosystem and other global allies, submit your presentation or session idea for consideration as part of our inaugural Africa Childcare Forum. Selected applicants will be asked to present in person at the event that will take place in Kigali, Rwanda.
Your Abstract or Session Proposal should not exceed 300 words and should be aligned with the Conference theme: Strengthening Evidence, Accelerating Action.
The topics are revised regularly so feel free to submit an abstract if a topic of interest to you is not included. So get back to us if you have ideas! However, the Conference is intended to enable participants to connect, learn, share, and generate ideas and solutions that can benefit their communities when they go up.
Topics of interest for Papers and Sessions can include the following:
The Business of Childcare
- Domestic Childcare workers
- Home-Based Care workers
- Childcare micro-enterprises
- Financial Inclusion
- Urban and rural contexts
Disability and Inclusion
- Children in the justice system
- Children in alternative care
- Children with disabilities
Investment Climate Reforms, Childcare and Women’s Economic Empowerment
- Private sector provision of childcare
- Policy and Regulatory Reforms
- Role of Business collectives, coorperatives and chambers of commerce
Maternal Health
- Psychosocial health
- Support for young mothers and their Children
Realising Nurturing Care and Protection
- Trafficking and childcare
- Nutrition and Childcare
- Safeguarding and Protection
- Social norms in care
- Responsive Caregiving
- Opportunities for Early Learning
Domestic Workers as Childcare Workers: Issues and Opportunities
- Legal and Policy and Regulatory Reforms and domestication of international conventions
- SGBV
- Workforce Development
Integrating Local Childcare Practices
- Community-Based Childcare Solutions
- Micro-finance and Opportunities for Women in Childcare
- Policy Advocacy for Women’s Rights and Childcare Support
Childcare Laws, Policies and Regulations
- African Regional subregional and national legal frameworks
- Regulations and Guidelines for implementing laws and policies
Climate Change and Childcare
- Impact of climate change on caregiving
- The nexus of child and caregiver health and climate change
- Energy-saving technologies and the reduction of the care burden
- Climate change and psychosocial health
- Urban settlements, climate change and childcare
Data Management and Technology
- Data Collection and Analysis for Childcare Programs
- Digital Platforms for Caregiver Training and Development
- Technology for Early Childhood Development (ECD) Monitoring
- Data-Driven Advocacy and Policy Formulation
Abstract and Session submission
Closed
For More Information
acf2025@uthabitiafrica.org