Advocacy efforts for an inclusive early childhood system

ISSA Member: Step by Step Centre for Education and Professional Development, Romania

What happened?

In 2022, Romania faced a dual challenge: responding to the urgent needs of Ukrainian refugee children while also addressing pre-existing inequalities affecting vulnerable Romanian children. As the war in Ukraine continued, deepening these inequities, the Step by Step Centre for Education and Professional Development (CEPD) intensified its advocacy efforts through the First Years, First Priority campaign. The aim was clear: keep early childhood development (ECD) at the forefront of public attention and policymaking, ensuring that both refugee and local children’s rights to education, care, and protection were equally recognised.

 
What was needed? How did they respond?
With the arrival of refugee families and the ongoing social and economic challenges for many Romanians, there was a risk that ECD would be deprioritised. CEPD responded by advocating for an inclusive approach to policy and services, reminding decision-makers that helping one group of children should never mean neglecting another. The campaign emphasised equity, continuity of services, and the integration of all children into early childhood systems.

Key challenges:

• Overlapping crises, war-driven migration and entrenched inequities stretched public resources and attention.
• Competition for funding and services risked creating divisions between refugee and local communities.

Solutions:

• Continued public and political advocacy through the First Years, First Priority campaign.
• Clear messaging that early childhood investment benefits all children and strengthens society as a whole.

The campaign brought together NGOs, experts, and civil society groups to speak with a unified voice. This coalition ensured that the needs of all young children, regardless of background, remained a national priority, even during crisis response planning. By sharing this advocacy example within the ISSA Network, CEPD’s approach serves as a model for other members navigating similar crises, demonstrating that strong, consistent advocacy can influence national agendas even when emergency response systems are under strain.

What's in place? What's missing?

CEPD entered the crisis with a strong advocacy track record and an active stakeholder network, enabling it to act quickly when the war in Ukraine began impacting Romania. However, because there was no formal, government-led contingency framework to secure ECD priorities during emergencies, visibility and funding for young children’s needs remained vulnerable, relying entirely on civil society’s capacity to respond and maintain pressure.

Being part of a regional network: Advantages of ISSA membership

Membership in ISSA has given CEPD and its partners access to peer learning, tested advocacy strategies, and international visibility. The network strengthens collective voices, promotes solidarity across borders, and ensures that inclusive early childhood development remains a shared regional priority even in times of crisis.

‘’At the PrimoHUB, my daughter felt safe and welcomed. She began learning Romanian through play, and I received guidance on how to support her. It was the bridge we needed between our home and the kindergarten.’’
Parent (Ukrainian mother)

Recommendations

National policymakers:
National decision-makers should establish a clear contingency framework for early childhood in crises, secure stable and equitable funding for all children (refugee and local), expand Romanian as a second language courses including for preschoolers, and introduce data monitoring that disaggregates outcomes by status to guide future policy.

Local/national actors
Local institutions and NGOs can strengthen inclusion by developing community-based hubs like Primo HUB, fostering partnerships to pool resources rather than compete, and training practitioners in inclusive, trauma-sensitive methods. They can also create shared platforms for extracurricular and after-school resources to ensure continuity for children.

Private donors
Philanthropic actors and CSR programs should provide flexible, rapid-response funding, invest in professional capacity-building, and support innovative pilots such as digital tools or parenting programs that can later be scaled. Donor strategies should reinforce solidarity and equity, showing that early investment benefits all children.

Professionals/practitioners
Teachers, caregivers, and social workers can adapt classroom practice to children’s diverse needs, use inclusive methods, and engage parents as active partners. By joining professional development and peer-learning initiatives, they gain new tools and confidence, while their testimonies serve as powerful advocacy for inclusive education.

Explore further: issa.nl/content/advocacy-efforts-romania-continue-while-war-deepens-inequities