Set up in January 2001 by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Umuchigbo community, the Umuchigbo centre is one of 113 early childhood education centres set up on an experimental basis in 10 states in central and southeastern Nigeria with an estimated population of 28 million people. They now have a joint enrolment of 12,108 children managed by 459 teachers or caregivers. The centres are part of a new initiative to give Nigerian children the best possible start in life.