Background

Aide et Action (AEA) is an international solidarity organization for development, created in 1981, which mission is to ensure access to quality education for the most vulnerable and marginalised populations, especially children, so they can take charge of their own development and contribute to a more peaceful and sustainable world. AEA is present in 19 countries in Africa, Asia and Europe through 85 projects, reaching over 2.9 million vulnerable and marginalised children and adults in 2020.

Under its strategic plan 2020–2024, AEA focuses on three program priorities:

• Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE): AEA strengthens its different strategies by prioritising innovative ECCE approaches to improve cognitive development and learning outcomes of children aged 0-8 years old.
• Access and Quality of Education for Primary and Secondary Level: AEA ensures increased civic engagement in education and government accountability for equitable access to quality education thereby improving learning outcomes.
• Lifelong Learning and Vocational Training: AEA addresses skill gaps and strengthens resilient livelihoods to improve economic opportunities and future prospects for marginalised groups.

Project summary

Part of its first program priority, AEA has been implementing a regional initiative in Southeast Asia, called “Promoting Quality and Inclusive Early Childhood Care, Education (ECCE) and Parenting in Cambodia and Vietnam”, since 2019. The project, which overall objective was to ensure that, by 2021, children aged three to eight years in the target areas of Vietnam and Cambodia maximise their socio-emotional development and successfully transition through the first years of primary school, was implemented through two phases, a one-year pilot phase in 2019, followed by a one-year-and-a-half phase, extended for six plus four months in a global pandemic context. The project was implemented in Lai Chau province in Vietnam, and Kep and Kandal provinces in Cambodia.