The Office of the President is pleased to announce that on 15 November 2019, the 40th session of the UNESCO General Conference unanimously approved the status of the Institute of Early Childhood Development (IECD) as a UNESCO Global Category II Institute for Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD).

The geographical scope of the UNESCO Category II Institute means that Seychelles has acceded to a global recognition as a leader in this field. This is over and above the recognition of the IECD as the IBE-UNESCO Best Practice Hub for ECCD, and represents a much higher and institutionally, more sustainable recognition.

As a Global Category II Centre, the Institute is to provide global intellectual and operational leadership, as well as capacity building, for UNESCO Member States to advance the development of ECCD. In executing its mandate, the Institute will among others, lead global intellectual dialogue on the importance of ECCD, provide operational guidance on how to give effect to its intellectual insights, lead global policy dialogue on ECCD, as well as promote the strengthening of ECCD systems across UNESCO Member States.

The President has expressed his congratulations and appreciation to the IECD team, its partners and the UNESCO Governing Bodies for believing in Seychelles.