Nigeria’s Orondaam Otto Delivers Keynote Address at UNESCO’s Global Early Childhood Summit in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

By Bisi Akande

Orondaam Otto is a renowned social entrepreneur, educator, public speaker and founder of Slum2School Africa. Otto gave a moving Keynote Address at the UNESCO General Assembly at the 2022 World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Tashkent, Uzbekistan – At a time when early childhood education is gaining unprecedented global attention, Nigerian social entrepreneur and education advocate, Orondaam Otto, delivered a keynote address at the UNESCO World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education (WCECCE), held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The summit, organized by UNESCO, brought together more than 1,500 delegates from over 150 countries, including heads of state, education ministers, academics, and development leaders. The gathering served as a critical platform to advance global commitments toward inclusive, equitable, and quality early childhood care and education (ECCE), a cornerstone of Sustainable Development Goal 4.2.

In his keynote address at the opening plenary, Orondaam Otto spoke on the demographic shifts shaping Africa’s future and the need for intentional investment in young children. “It isn’t enough to encourage the brain drain by exporting Africa’s best talents to grow other economies,” he said. “We must equally be intentional about ensuring that the growing population in Africa, which will double in three decades, becomes an asset not just for the global economy, but for Africa itself.”

His remarks came at a moment of urgency for many countries across the Global South, where millions of children remain excluded from early education systems. According to UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics, over 20% of African children aged 6–11 is out of school, one-third of adolescents aged 12–14 is excluded from education, and nearly 60% of youth aged 15–17 is not enrolled in any learning institution.

Drawing from over a decade of work through Slum2School Africa, an organization he founded to support underserved children across Nigeria, Otto emphasized that structural reform is not optional but essential. He pointed to fragmented governance as a core issue, arguing that early childhood education is often diluted across multiple ministries and agencies without a unified framework. Otto called for the establishment of unified Ministries for Children and Early Childhood Development.

The footage of Otto’s inspiring speech quickly reached thousands of people from all age groups across various social media platforms, provoking relevant conversations around the value and urgency of investing in education, specifically in Africa, proving that Orondaam’s message resonated with the youth, business leaders, forward-thinkers, and people wanting to make a difference across all compass points.

Orondaam opened the keynote address speech by pointing out that the world just reached a new milestone, the global population has eclipsed eight billion people, imparting the following:

“Projections by the United Nations show that the world’s population will reach 10 billion people in 30 years. About 95% of this growth will take place in low and medium-income countries,” said Orondaam Otto.
Orondaam pointed out that the rising population among low-income countries could pose a threat to families and especially children if active measures are not taken to empower the youth with the tools and knowledge required to create and sustain a better life for themselves and their families, stating:

“Africa will account for 75% of this growth, that’s about 1.4 billion people, and my country, Nigeria, will be the third most populous country in the world. With population growth, the majority and over 70% of these people will live in low-income communities, and while this is a great opportunity it could also be a huge threat if we fail to maximize the window of opportunity that we have,” Mr. Otto said.
The conference culminated in the adoption of the Tashkent Declaration, a global policy framework that urges countries to allocate at least 10% of their national education budgets to early childhood education, integrate ECCE into national development strategies, and address inequalities in access. Otto contributed to the policy memo and discussions that shaped this declaration, reinforcing a unified global voice for early learning.

Left-Right – Kailash Satyarthi, 2014 Nobel prize winner, Dr. Tashkhodjaev Mukhtorkhon, Board Chairman/Founder Kokand University and Orondaam Otto, Executive Director/Founder Slum2School Africa.
As a young graduate, Orondaam visited Lagos and saw children aged between 3 to 15 who had never been to school. He saw a trend that was bordering on tradition where communities never expected, let alone encouraged the youngest to become educated.
In Orondaam’s words, “boys were expected to grow up to become fishermen, and girls were expected to grow up to become housewives and petty traders.” He left the community that day in 2012 with a commitment to make a difference.

Otto quit his job and became laser-focused on raising resources to help elevate the educational system and awareness across Nigeria and Africa. In the first three months of his efforts, Orondaam rallied friends across his network who collectively raised funds to enrol 114 children into school for the first time. Today, the impact of Slum2School Africa has reached over 625,000 children across the country of Nigeria with plans to scale across Africa.

Other speakers at the conference included the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, UNESCO Director General, Audrey Azoulay, Nobel Prize Winner, Kailash Satyarthi, UNICEF Director for Europe and Central Asia, Afshan Khan, Advisor on Pre-Primary Education, Shahnoza Mirziyoyeva and several other leaders from various UN member countries and the private sector.

Contact details:
Name: Orondaam Otto
Email Address: otto.orondaam@gmail.com
Address: Lagos, Nigeria
Website: https://www.instagram.com/Otto_orondaam/