LABE Uganda‘s Executive Director, Stellah Keihangwe Tumwebaze, joined 150 leaders from across the globe this week in Kigali, Rwanda, for the Global Technical Financing Forum: Investing in the Early Years, a landmark gathering dedicated to strengthening how the world funds early childhood development.
Organised by the Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN) alongside the Government of Rwanda, UNICEF, UNESCO, the African Early Childhood Network (AfECN), and the World Health Organization, and held from 6 to 8 May 2026, the Forum convened government officials, civil society organisations, academics, private sector actors, and development partners around a shared challenge: how to finance early childhood development more effectively and equitably.
A Platform for Solutions and Shared Learning
The Forum was structured around four objectives:
Showcase country financing solutions — Participants shared how different countries are funding ECD, highlighting practical models that work at national and subnational levels.
Drive policy dialogue — The Forum created space for frank conversation on the barriers and opportunities that shape ECD investment decisions across different contexts.
Promote cross-country learning — Delegates drew lessons from financing approaches spanning the full public–private spectrum, with a focus on what is transferable and scalable.
Catalyse action — Participants left equipped with practical tools and recommendations to increase and improve ECD financing where it is needed most.
A central outcome of the gathering is the development of a Financing Toolbox for the Early Years, a practical resource designed to connect public financial management systems with the financing decisions that shape services on the ground.
Why This Matters for Uganda and the Region
For LABE, whose work reaches families and young children across seven districts in West Nile and Northern Uganda, forums like this are essential. The investments governments and development partners make, or fail to make, in early childhood directly shape what is possible at the community level. LABE’s participation in the Forum ensures that the realities and lessons from Uganda’s grassroots ECD programmes are part of the global conversation.
