Connecting Capacity to Impact: Summary report to the Early Childhood Regional Networks Fund

The ECRN Fund, a funder collaborative established by Open Society Foundations, Porticus and the Oak Foundation, and hosted by the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, has provided critical support for the work of four regional networks that advance Early Childhood Development (ECD), The Africa Early Childhood Network (AfECN), the Arab Network for Early Childhood (ANECD), the Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC), and in Europe/Central Asia, the International Step by Step Association (ISSA). 

From 2023-2025, Network Impact worked with the regional networks to explore the health and capacity of their networks, and how that capacity connects to impact. The networks co-created research plans to support their strategy and planning.

The interactive final report summarizes key themes that emerged from the research in four sections:

1. Co-creating a framework for network health and capacity A deep dive into the process of creating and customizing a shared framework for understanding network health and capacity in the context of early childhood development (ECD).

2. Generating impact An exploration of how capacity building in ECD networks leads to different types of impact at the local, national and regional levels.

3. Crisis as the new normal A focus on how crises like climate and conflict are shaping the work of regional ECD networks and their members and
   partners.

4. Looking ahead Key strategies that the regional networks are using to cultivate engagement and generate impact in the next year.

Network Impact was also privileged to highlight the work of the four regional networks in our 2020 report How Regional Networks Catalyze Impact in Early Childhood Development. The report builds on interviews with political leaders, senior civil servants, INGO’s, academics and heads of national networks.  It identifies the unique advantages of regional networks in the ECD sector, examining how these can be leveraged for increased impact, especially in times of crisis and recovery.