• Implementation of the strategy is taking place in prioritized territories within the departments of Bolívar, Caquetá, Cauca, and Valle del Cauca.
• The project involved a total investment of 5.736 billion pesos.
• The project will also impact more than 1,300 individuals involved in early childhood care, including staff, caregivers, community leaders, and educational stakeholders.

More than 5,900 children and their families across 16 municipalities covered by Territorial Development Programs (PDET) are participating in a project that seeks to transform the quality of early childhood education in Colombia. The initiative adopts a territorial and participatory perspective focused on fostering the holistic development of young children.

This strengthening effort is being carried out under the ICBF’s SOMOSinitiative—an institutional commitment realized through various channels, including a collaborative partnership with the social enterprise aeioTU and the Colombia en Paz Fund. Through this initiative, the aim is to fulfill commitments regarding early childhood and early childhood education outlined in the 2022–2026 National Development Plan, "Colombia: World Power of Life." The plan seeks to move toward universal access to comprehensive early childhood care, employing a territorial and participatory approach centered on the holistic development of children.

Julie Pauline Trujillo Vanegas, ICBF’s Director of Early Childhood, stated: "Our commitment to the 'Generation Growing for Peace' is also reflected in partnerships that prioritize quality—a key pledge in our National Development Plan to bridge inequality gaps. These partnerships create environments better suited to children's development, enable teachers to collaborate and enhance their knowledge and practices, and empower the community to play an increasingly influential role in guaranteeing the right to early childhood education.

As Victoria Arciniegas, Executive Director of aeioTU, explains: “The first five years of life are crucial for laying the foundations of human development. Therefore, it is essential to strengthen the capabilities of caregivers and communities, as well as the public policies that ensure the highest quality in holistic early childhood development. This initiative represents a decisive step toward bringing our mission—a quality educational model for children—to vulnerable areas and helping to close the deep gaps that still exist in our country.”

The SOMOS initiative is being implemented in priority areas within the departments of Bolívar, Caquetá, Cauca, and Valle del Cauca. It involves a total investment of 5.736 billion pesos, resulting from a joint effort between the Colombia in Peace Fund (via the Early Childhood Sub-account linked to the Colombian Family Welfare Institute, which contributed 4.015 billion pesos) and aeioTU (which contributed 1.720 billion pesos). These funds make it possible to strengthen holistic early childhood care in these regions, fostering educational environments that uphold dignity.

The SOMOS strategy, in partnership with aeioTU and the Colombia in Peace Fund, is implemented through four strategic lines that integrate technical and community knowledge, strengthen local capacities, and promote context-specific pedagogical practices:

• First: territorial collectives, aimed at strengthening local spaces for participation and collaborative action, as well as fostering dialogue among communities, institutions, and social leaders to guarantee children's rights starting with early childhood education.


• Second: pedagogical collectives—networks of professionals and staff who strengthen their teaching practices through a critical, political, and transformative lens, recognizing the role of community mothers, teachers, and educational agents as key drivers of change.


• Third: quality reference centers, impacting 48 service units of the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF). These units receive support to become local benchmarks for quality early childhood education, featuring inspiring pedagogical practices, enriched environments, and experiences that foster early childhood development and learning.


• Fourth: resource and experience centers, serving as participatory spaces that bring together children, families, communities, and early childhood education professionals. These centers facilitate extended engagement, knowledge building, and exchange, promoting reflection and dialogue around projects and actions that strengthen early childhood education—ensuring quality, relevance, and a territorial approach.

The project also impacts over 1,300 individuals involved in early childhood care—including staff, caregivers, community leaders, and educational stakeholders—through various professional development and technical capacity-building initiatives.
Through this joint effort, the Colombia in Peace Fund, aeioTU, and the ICBF reaffirm their commitment to a Colombia where early childhood education is a guaranteed right rather than a privilege. It is a vision of a Colombia where play, care, and learning transform lives from early childhood onward—especially in the territories that need it most—allowing the "Generation for Peace" to grow and thrive.

Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF)
Address: Avenida Carrera 68 #64 c-75, Bogotá D.C., Colombia
Switchboard: (601) 4377630
ICBF National Toll-Free Line: 01 8000 91 80 80

aeioTU
Address: Carrera 12 #97-4
Communications and Marketing Management: Angela.velez@aeiotu.org
Press and PR Contact: Andrés Quiroga
Mobile: 321 4495447

About aeioTU

aeioTU is a Colombian social enterprise that has been working for 17 years with the goal of transforming communities in a systemic, innovative, and sustainable way by unlocking the full potential of children. Inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy, it has developed the aeioTU Educational Experience—an early childhood education model backed by measurement and scientific evidence—in which art, play, and inquiry serve as fundamental pillars for child development, family engagement, and community growth.