Transnational Advocacy Capacity for Improved Legislation (TRANAC) in Southern Africa

Initiative: Transnational Advocacy Capacity for Improved Legislation (TRANAC)

As National Coordinator of the Zimbabwe Network of Early Childhood Development Actors (ZINECDA), I lead the TRANAC project, a consortium spanning Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi, Eswatini, Mozambique and Zambia.

Objectives: (1) Establish a binding SADC protocol on early childhood development to ensure regional legal accountability. (2) Strengthen domestic ECDE and Foundational Learning (FLN) policies through evidence-based advocacy. (3) Build sustainable financing mechanisms for quality early learning. (4) Enhance transnational civil society capacity to engage governments on legal reform.

Target beneficiaries: Children aged 0–8 years in underserved communities across the six countries; ECD practitioners and teacher training institutions; national and regional policymakers; civil society organisations advocating for ECDE; and marginalised groups including children with disabilities and those in rural areas.

Outcomes achieved: (1) Successfully placed the creation of a SADC ECD protocol on the regional policy agenda. (2) Contributed to Zimbabwe's Early Learning Policy development as a technical team member. (3) Participated in the technical review of Zimbabwe's 2020 Education Amendment Bill, strengthening legal provisions for foundational learning. (4) Served on the core technical committee that drafted the Zimbabwe National Education Trust Fund Bill for sustainable domestic financing from ECD through Form Four. (5) As a UNICEF-contracted expert, assessed FLN in Lesotho, informing that country's foundational learning strategy through data collection, stakeholder consultations, and policy gap analysis.

Lessons learnt: Policy change requires sustained, cross-border coalitions—no single country advances ECD law in isolation. Financing gaps are the primary barrier; legal advocacy must be paired with fiscal literacy and budget tracking. Contextualising global standards to local realities (e.g., multilingual FLN assessment) is non-negotiable. Additionally, frontline practitioner voices must sit alongside legal experts in technical committees to ensure policies are implementable.

Other relevant information: My work bridges frontline ECD teaching, published research on SADC ECD financing across six countries, and direct legal drafting. As an AU ECED-FLN member, I can contribute to continental policy harmonisation, share replicable transnational advocacy models, and support peer countries in designing enforceable ECD laws and sustainable financing mechanisms—directly advancing the AU's Agenda 2063 aspirations for quality foundational learning for every child.