Bangladesh ECD Network organized its 1st National ECD Conference on 10th December, 2006 at Spectra Convention Centre, Gulshan-1, Dhaka with a view to share information and experience among ECD stakeholders in the country. About three hundred participants from government and non-government organizations and international organizations active in ECD activities took part in the conference. Mrs. Yasmeen Murshed, Honorable Advisor of the Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh addressed the conference as the Chief Guest. Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs Md. Abdul Haque was the Special Guest. The theme of the conference was "Building Partnerships for Early Childhood Development".

1st Session:

In the first session, the Key Note was presented by Caroline Arnold, Co-Director, Education Programmes, Aga Khan Foundation, Geneva. The Chief Guest, Ms Yasmeen Murshed, inaugurated the updated website of Bangladeh ECD Network. In this session Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Mr. Abdul Haque, Country Representative of UNICEF, Bangladesh, Country Director of Plan Bangladesh, Country Representative of Save the Children- USA, Bangladesh also delivered their valuable speech. All of them praised highly the Network's initiatives of organizing the conference. They emphasized the importance of working together for ECD. There was a children performance by a street children performing troupe called Icchey Media Group.

2nd Session:

In the second session of the conference, two Pre-school teachers from Plan Bangladesh and ICDP shared their experience. The attractive part of this session was a Panel Discussion. The panelists were Prof. Dr. M. Q. K. Talukder, Dr. Shafiqul Islam, Director of BRAC Education Programme, Dr. M. Quamrul Hassan, a Child Health Specialist, and Caroline Arnold. Questions and comments from the audience were invited and discussed in the panel. In this session three, new ECD learning materials and story books were released and introduced. Ms. Mahmuda Akhter, Head of ECDRC, briefed on Block Die Mojar Khela (Math Practice Book), Khelay Khelay Shishur Bikas (Play Activity Book) and Mojar Golpo Set. After the briefing, Ms. Farida Akhter, Child Psychologist and Prof. Dr. Anisuzzaman and Mr. Saleh Chowdhury, two renowned writers commented on the books. The Chair of this session Selina Hossain, a famous novelist, spoke about the value and potential impact of the new ECD materials. Vote of thanks was given by the Representative of Bangladesh Shishu Academy at the end of the conference.

Exhibition:

One of the main attractions of the conference was the exhibition of ECD related books, materials, posters etc by ten organizations. The exhibition was arranged outside the conference hall. Early Childhood Development Resource Centre at IED,BRAC University, Campaign for Popular Education, Plan Bangladesh, Inner Force, Bangladesh Shishu Academy, Integrated Community Development Program (ICDP), BRAC Education Program, Nayantara Communications, Save the Children- USA, Bangladesh and Research Initiatives Bangladesh took part in the exhibition. The ECD implementer organizations and visitors learned from the exhibition about the range and variety of ECD materials available from different organizations.

Press conference:

Journalists from the print and electronic media were invited in the conference. They were provided with press briefings. Different Newspapers and Television channels delivered the news respectively.