Mamapreneurs ensuring the best early start for all children

Early childhood care and education offers pre-primary-school-age children the opportunity to develop emotional and social capabilities required to thrive in school, and increases their chances of reaching their full potential later in life. Yet only about one in five young children in low-income countries are enrolled in pre-school, and many working parents have little choice but to leave their young children with informal or inadequate care providers.

Expo 2020 Dubai’s Expo Live programme has selected early childhood care social enterprise Kidogo as one of its Global Innovators. Since 2014, Kidogo has been improving access to high-quality and affordable early childhood care and education for children living in informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. Comprising a network of local men and women, Kidogo identifies, trains and supports female entrepreneurs, known as “mamapreneurs”, to start or grow their childcare microbusinesses in their local communities.

To improve the quality of services offered to young children, Kidogo provides its mamapreneurs with intensive training and mentoring on early childhood care and education, entrepreneurship, and health and nutrition. When joining the Kidogo Network, mamapreneurs are provided with a starter kit that includes key resources for their centres, and ongoing quality assurance to maintain Kidogo’s minimum standards.

With more than 50 mamapreneurs working out of community franchises, thousands of children now benefit from quality care and education, increasing their chances of performing better once they start school. With the support of Expo Live, Kidogo will continue to expand its programme throughout East Africa.

The Expo 2020 Dubai Innovation Series is a weekly blog series highlighting some of the creative and world-changing innovations that are being showcased via Expo 2020 Dubai’s programmes and pavilions.