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Dear CSEF coalition colleagues!
We are excited to share with you a new CSEF newsle7er – the first in 2015 – packed with informaBon, updates and stories from across the programme. We have a lot to be proud of from this CSEF phase, and much evidence of good pracBce and results is already visible since April 2013.
Overall we see a broad and varied thematic policy focus among CSEF recipients, though some trends are evident. For example, there has been a scaling up of work around education financing – partly due to the GPE replenishment taking place earlier this year. CSEF coalitions have also increased their engagement with post-‐2015 processes, through conducting independent CSO assessments of EFA, inputting to government positions, and participating in regional and global discussion forums that help shape the future architecture for education and aid. In addition, we have seen a great deal of activity to strengthen education for persons with disabilities – much of it related to this year’s Global Action Week.
In general, participation in education sector dialogue and policy processes has greatly increased. 35 CSEF coalitions now actively engage with Local Education Groups (LEGs), an increase of 6 since early 2014. Most coalitions have conducted research or tracking exercises, using the findings to feed into planning and policy development. Over 132 policy submissions were made to relevant policy-‐making bodies just between
January and July this year, including policy critiques, analyses and proposals. In some countries, such as such as Honduras, Mauritania, and Cote D’Ivoire, civil society is still excluded from these important spaces, and often decisions are made in closed forums where civil society has no access. We will continue to put pressure on decision-‐makers for opening up dialogue to citizens, and ensure contributions to debate are informed and effective. GCE’s new handbook on participation in education sector planning processes – Planning Matters in Education – has been produced to support this kind of engagement.
In order to raise the national profile of education, coalitions have been reaching out to citizens to create awareness and encourage public debate on education, including through rallies, campaigns, public events, training sessions and media engagement. Radio and TV programmes are being used frequently to share information and spark discussion, as for example in Bangladesh, Albania, DRC and Bolivia. Increased emphasis on social media is evident in some countries like Guinea Bissau and Cambodia.
CSEF is also contributing to broadening the representation of diverse civil society stakeholders, with coalition memberships now encompassing more
than 4200 organisations, including grassroots organisations, women’s movements, teachers’ unions, parents’ associations, youth networks etc. More sharing of good practice and experiences around this will be emphasised next year, for example through a learning tool on stakeholder representation in civil society coalitions which GCE will be developing in collaboration with CSEF coalitions.
It is an exciting time for education – with millions of people recognising education as vital for development through the MyWorld survey, important progress in debates about post-‐2015 education goals, and GCE’s co-‐founder Kailash Satyarthi receiving the Nobel Peace Prize 2014 together with young education activist Malala Yousafzai! And of course, the recent decision of the GPE Board to sustain CSEF at least till the end of next year – and very likely until 2018. So we should all be motivated to approach 2015 with passion, courage and energy! 2015 is a critical year of opportunity – when we as civil society can help make history and ensure education is a priority on the global agenda, with goals and targets that are relevant and achievable.
In solidarity, The GCE secretariat
Content: Intro 1 Upcoming events in 2015 2 GPE replenishment success 2 Holding governments accountable for GPE replenishment pledges 2
Government Spending Watch 3 Interview with Cheikh Mbow 3 Case study from Yemen 4 Planning Matters in Education 4 Are you Up for School? 4 Resources 5
Civil Society Education Fund NEWS
January
2015
Celebrating GPE replenishment success! The last CSEF newsletter was launched in the middle of the GPE replenishment campaign, leading up to the GPE replenishment pledging conference in Brussels on June 26 2014. At the time we shared information and tools for coalitions to engage with the replenishment process by advocating for strong government and donor commitments to the GPE for the period 2015-‐2018 and to national education budgets generally.
The GPE pledging conference brought together over 800 participants from 91 countries and resulted in 85 financial and policy pledges – raising a total of US$28.5 billion in additional commitments to education for 2015-‐2018. 27 developing country governments committed to increase their own domestic funding for education by an unprecedented US$26 billion over the replenishment period, far exceeding the target of US $16 billion. In addition 11 donors committed US$2.1 billion to the GPE Fund.
How did civil society participate in the GPE replenishment campaign? Numerous CSEF coalitions engaged actively by lobbying and putting pressure on their governments to increase and ensure more equitable domestic spending on education. For example:
• EFA Sierra Leone made a written submission to the Education Development Partners Forum, calling for the government to increase resources and participate actively in the replenishment
• In the Democratic Republic of Congo, CONEPT, ran radio announcements about the replenishment campaign
• CN/EPT Burkina Faso met with the Minister of Education who confirmed her support for the replenishment campaign
• EFANet Gambia submitted a lobby proposal with support from the Local Education Group to the government through the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education
• TLCE Timor Leste sent a lobby letter to the Ministry of Education and followed up through face to face meetings
Several coalitions also attended the replenishment conference and representatives of CAMPE Bangladesh, CSEC Malawi, Elimu Yetu Kenya and ZANEC Zambia participated in panel debates with Ministers of Education, Heads of donor departments and INGOs, allowing civil society voices to be heard in global discussions related to education. Through these discussion sessions, a variety of calls for action on education were developed: read these (and other information from the replenishment) here.
The replenishment – an opportunity for CSEF With GPE as CSEF’s main funder, the replenishment conference was also a crucial moment for demonstrating the value of CSEF and to advocate for CSEF future support. Thus, CSEF coalitions shared examples showcasing their work, which were compiled into materials disseminated in Brussels, including a results report, a CSEF poster and an updated case study leaflet.
Read the full GPE Replenishment report.
Upcoming events in 2015
2015 presents numerous opportunities for action
around education, particularly in terms
of contribution to debates to shape future goals and
frameworks. The list below contains some of the key
events that coalitions may want to engage with:
• Arab Ministerial Regional Conference on Education
27-‐29 January, Sharm el-‐Sheikh (Egypt)
• Sub-‐Saharan Africa Regional Education Conference:
9-‐11 February, Kigali (Rwanda)
• Regional Ministerial Conference on Education
Post-‐2015 (Europe and North America): 19-‐20
February, Paris (France)
• GCE World Assembly: 23-‐26 February,
Johannesburg (South Africa)
• CSEF Global Learning Event (back to back with
World Assembly): 27-‐28 February, Johannesburg
(South Africa)
• World Social Forum: 24-‐28 March, Tunis (Tunisia)
• Launch of the 2015 Education for All Global
Monitoring Report (GMR): 9-‐10 April
• Spring Meetings of World Bank and IMF: 17-‐19
April, Washington DC (US)
• 2015 Global Action Week: 26 April-‐2 May,
worldwide
• NGO Forum (back to back with World Education
Forum): 18-‐19 May, Incheon (Korea)
• World Education Forum: 19-‐22 May, Incheon
(Korea)
• GPE Board meeting: 26-‐27 May, Incheon (Korea)
• 19th Conference of Commonwealth Education
Ministers: 22-‐26 June, Bahamas
• Summit on Education for Development: 6-‐7 July,
Oslo
• Third International Conference on Financing for
Development (FfD): 13-‐16 July, Addis Ababa
(Ethiopia)
• 70th United Nations General Assembly: 15-‐28
September, New York (US)
• UN Summit for Adoption of Post-‐2015
Development Agenda: 25-‐27 September, New York
(US)
• 38th UNESCO General Conference: 10-‐25
November, Paris (France)
Upcoming tool: Holding governments accountable for GPE Replenishment pledges In an effort to maintain the momentum from the GPE replenishment, GCE is developing a toolkit to support coalitions’ follow-‐up activities. While the Replenishment Conference was a success, civil society has an important role to play in demanding accountability for the promises made, and to advocate for governments and donors to meet the financial target of US$3.5 billion set for the replenishment period. The tool will focus on action to ensure effective monitoring of GPE pledges, and lobbying of those countries that are yet to state their commitment to education.
The tool will be circulated among the GCE membership in early 2015 and coalitions will have the chance to participate in online discussions in the course of 2015 on continued civil society engagement around GPE and education financing. For more information email Kjersti at [email protected].
The Government Spending Watch (GSW): the open budget database
The Government Spending Watch (GSW) was launched in 2013 by Oxfam and Development Finance International (DFI) in response to the limited availability of accumulated budget data and analysis relating to what national governments spend to realize the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). GSW is the first ever global database to provide comprehensive and up-‐to-‐date information on government expenditure across the seven MDG-‐related sectors: agriculture, education, environment, gender, health, social protection, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). The GSW database and website are
accessible to the public, hence fostering greater fiscal transparency and government accountability.
CSEF coalitions and other civil society can use the GSW as a tool to track government spending in the education sector and identify gaps, which can inform advocacy and campaigns priorities relating to financing for education. The Government Spending Watch can also serve as a useful resource to collect data to feed into EFA assessments and post-‐2015 positions.
Access GSW background paper here or contact the GSW team at gsw@development-‐finance.org
Interview with Cheikh Mbow of COSYDEP Senegal
Cheikh Mbow is the national coordinator of COSYDEP Senegal (Coalition des Organisations en Synergie pour la Défense de l'Education Publique), a GCE member and CSEF funded coalition. He is a member of the GPE Board, representing the CSO 2 constituency which covers civil society organizations across GPE developing countries. In this interview Cheikh shares his motivation behind being an education activist and encourages CSEF coalitions to engage in GPE debates. http://www.cosydep.org/
Where does your passion for education come from? Cheikh: I come from a family of illiterate parents. Despite that, I received a good education and completed my studies through the support from my parents who understood the importance of educating their children, giving me the opportunity they themselves did not have. From an early age I therefore had a strong interest in education, and its impact on the life of people. I started as a community teacher; later I became an activist committed to bringing together various actors around improving education – the most crucial tool for vulnerable communities to overcome poverty.
Why do you believe in the focus on education as the way to contribute to a better world? Cheikh: I am fully convinced that development will only be possible if we prioritise education and empowerment of citizens. Achieving development goals is inevitably conditioned by first delivering education, and if we want people to take part in fighting against climate change, reducing violence and human rights violations, tackling corruption and supporting interfaith or intercultural understanding, it is essential to provide them with quality education so that they are empowered and skilled on these issues to contribute to their achievement.
What are your key advocacy demands relating to the post-‐2015 agenda on education? Cheikh: It is important to first recall the commitments of Heads of States at the Millennium Summit in 2000 to make education a basic human right! We must ensure that post-‐2015 frameworks have at the centre education as a basic human right for all, but also emphasise that education systems need to go beyond producing citizens who just hold degrees, and ensure that these persons are actually enabled to adapt to and engage with global challenges and emerging issues. A future education framework must also take into account the special needs and aspirations of vulnerable groups, and emphasise ‘’neglected goals’’ and issues often ignored by governments (and sometimes even by civil society advocates), such as early childhood education, technical and vocational education and training, youth and adult literacy and teaching through local and native languages which are effective vehicles for quality learning. COSYDEP believes the responsibility of quality education and learning must be guaranteed by governments, while civil society should also play a key role in sharing information and providing direction during national and global negotiations processes. We work hard to address these ‘’neglected goals’’ as part of our advocacy and activities -‐ and CSEF has been vital for supporting this.
You attended the GPE replenishment conference last June. Are you satisfied with the results? Cheikh: I welcome the pledges and commitments made at the replenishment conference. Senegal is one of the countries that committed to education financing in Africa. However, after celebrating these achievements, we have to be aware that governments sometimes commit but later do not respect the promises they have made. Quality inclusive education requires available resources, and as civil society we have a responsibility to support and put pressure on our governments to live up to their responsibilities. In addition, we must hold them accountable for ensuring that budgets are decentralized and reach beneficiaries directly. It is also urgent to strengthen local government and citizens in monitoring budgets allocated to education sector.
You have served nearly two years on the GPE Board. Do you have some lessons to share with CSEF coalitions? Cheikh: Being a GPE Board member is a role with high responsibility that involves a lot of exciting opportunities to advance civil society’s role within the education sector. However, this is not easy to achieve, and in future there is a need for more coordination and communication with the constituency. I encourage CSEF coalitions to use this space to voice concerns around education issues at national level so that these can feed into global level policy debates.
Cheikh (right) in meeting with previous Education
Minister, Ibrahima Sall
Case study: The ‘tribal black shame’ and improving girls’ educajon in Yemen
Illiteracy is a serious problem in Yemen, especially among girls. Through engagement in a workshop organised by ACEA, with support from GCE and CSEF, on advocacy strategies and tactics, the Yemeni Coalition for Education for All (YCEA) identified the issue of illiteracy among girls as one of the main challenges regarding education in their country. Through discussions and strategising it was recognised that it will not be enough to put pressure on the government to include clear text in the constitution regarding girls' education. Instead, they decided to bring on board key actors and players in Yemen, including tribal leaders.
As a starting point, YCEA targeted Al-‐Hawory village, 30 km outside Yemen’s capital Sana’a, with the highest rate of illiteracy in Yemen. The coalition began having conversations with tribal leaders and public figures to persuade them to become allies to their campaign. To strengthen this work, YCEA involved experts specialised in tribal traditions and customs in order to formulate a local document, that would acknowledge girls’ illiteracy as a ‘tribal black shame’, and instead push for increased focus on providing education for all girls. A huge campaign for supporting girls' education was ignited, and YCEA convinced citizens and community and tribal leaders to support and sign on to the document. The coalition also succeeded in putting pressure on the local council to establish a school for girls in the village. This example was shared as a model for other countries facing the same challenges as Yemen, such as Sudan or Iraq, to encourage adaptation of a similar approach. http://www.arabcampaignforeducation.org/page-‐446-‐en.html
Are you #UpForSchool?
#UpForSchool is led by A World at School – a relatively new coalition closely linked to the UN Special Envoy on Education, Gordon Brown, and particularly supported by a group of ‘Global Youth Ambassadors’. The major #UpForSchool initiative in 2015 is the development of a global petition, addressed to world leaders, that calls for every child to be in school and learning. In particular, the petition demands accountability for the promises made in 2000, and a final push to ensure out-‐of-‐school children gain their right to education by the end of 2015.
The #UpForSchool petition may be a useful tool for CSEF coalitions to use as part of their 2015 efforts to ensure accountability around EFA, especially through links with Youth Ambassadors and/or linking their national work to the global petition to strengthen public pressure and raise the profile of education.
To get involved contact [email protected], copying [email protected], and sign the #UpForSchool petition here!
Planning Mamers in Educajon!
Earlier this year, GCE produced ‘Planning Matters in Education’, a handbook for civil society coalitions to get involved with official education sector planning processes. It is the result of a collaborative process with CSEF regional and national partners, and draws on examples and experiences of national coalitions.
The handbook: • Shares general information and background about the governmental
Education Sector Plans, as well as key planning partners, processes and spaces including the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and GPE processes, and Local Education Groups.
• Provides advice and best practice examples that civil society can use to influence Education Sector Plan processes, including through engaging with planning, shaping, appraising and monitoring of the plan, in order to ensure that Education Sector Plans are relevant, equitable and reflect the needs of citizens, especially marginalised groups. This includes presenting the various possible entry points for coalitions, such as, for example active participation with LEGs.
• Provides practical worksheets that can be adapted to contexts and priorities.
• Suggests a workshop methodology which can be used to train coalition members.
GCE is planning various follow-‐up activities in 2015, including Training of Trainers programs, targeted support to interested coalitions, and guidelines for government officials. We would also very much like to hear from members about their experience with using this tool and how to develop it further – for this please write to [email protected].
Resources
Global Campaign for Education 25 Sturdee Avenue | Rosebank | Johannesburg 2132 | South Africa
About the Global Campaign for Educajon The Global Campaign for Educajon is a civil society coalijon that calls on governments to deliver the right of everyone to a free, quality, public educajon. Operajng in 90 countries and dozens more across our regional and internajonal networks, GCE members include grassroots organisajons, teachers’ unions, child rights groups and internajonal NGOs.
www.campaignforeducation.org
Equality and inclusion in education
• Equal Right, Equal Opportunity, GCE (2014), Global Action Week Report on inclusive education for children with Disabilities
•Mother-‐Tongue Education: Policy Lessons for Quality and Inclusion, GCE (2013), policy briefing highlighting the importance of mother-‐tongue education particularly in early years
•Make it Right for Girls, GCE and RESULTS (2011), Policy report on the right to education for girls
•Oxfam’s Even it Up campaign and report (2014) focusing on the challenge of tackling the world’s growing inequality
Read more about GCE’s campaign on education for persons with disabilities here.
Financing in education
• Fund the Future: an action plan for funding the Global Partnership for Education, GCE (2014), briefing on the role of GPE in financing education
•A Taxing Business, GCE (2013), briefing on domestic financing and tax justice for education, for use in coalitions’ advocacy work
•A budget guide for civil society organizations working in education, Commonwealth Education Fund (CEF, 2008)
•Government Spending Watch, Website run by Development Finance International and Oxfam with data and analysis of government spending in more than 50 countries
GCE resources planned for 2015: • Toolkit on GPE pledge monitoring and advocacy -‐ January • Report on consequences of privatization and low-‐cost private schools -‐ February
• Domestic financing toolkit -‐ March • Education Aid Watch -‐ June-‐July
Read more about GCE’s campaign on education financing here.
Quality education
• Every Child Needs a Teacher: Closing the Trained Teacher Gap, GCE and EI (2013), policy report on the need for trained teachers to achieve quality education
• The Right to Learn: Community participation in improving learning, Save the Children (2013)
Read more about GCE’s campaigning around teachers and quality education here.
Post-‐2015 • Equitable, Inclusive and Free: a collective vision for quality education beyond 2015, GCE (2014) position on post-‐2015
GCE resources planned for 2015: • Post-‐2015/GAW toolkit -‐ January • EFA verdict report -‐ April
Read more about GCE’s work on education post-‐2015 here, and contact Anjela Taneja at [email protected] for questions or to get involved.
Civil society participation
• Planning Matters in Education, GCE (2014) • Resource list of guidelines and tools for engagement with national education sector processes from the German Backup Initiative – Education in Africa, Backup Education (2014)
• Youth Education Advocacy Toolkit, Plan International (2014), resource for young people to become advocates for their right to education
• Participatory Advocacy Toolkit, VSO (2012) • Driving the bus: The journey of national education coalitions, Commonwealth Education Fund (2007)
CSEF learning materials: • CSEF results leaflet, GCE (December 2014) • CSEF poster with good practice examples, GCE, June (2014) • CSEF results report, GCE (June 2014) • CSEF information brochure, GCE (updated June 2014) • Civil society advocacy: good practice and case studies from Africa, GCE (updated June 2014)
• Civil Society Advocating for the Right To Education: stories and lessons learned from Latin America and the Caribbean, CLADE (updated 2013)
• Persuading Powers: Stories from Education Coalitions in Asia Pacific, ASPBAE (2012)
• CSEF film, GCE (2012)
GCE resources planned for 2015: • Learning tool on stakeholder representation in civil society coalitions -‐ April-‐May
• Shared learning on advocacy in challenging contexts
Read more about CSEF here.
GCE communication and discussion tools There are various mechanisms and tools to stay informed, exchange learning and engage in dialogue with other education coalitions and partners, for example: • The GCE online discussion forum
• The civil society list-‐serve on GPE matters
• GCE’s facebook page (www.facebook.com/campaignforeducation?fref=ts) and twitter (@globaleducation)
Coming in 2015: Database of CSEF coalitions research, materials and proposals. More information will be shared shortly.
For how to access or get more information about the lists and forums above please contact Jean Paul at [email protected].
Go to the GCE website (www.campaignforeducation.org) for more resources by GCE and partners, and contact us at [email protected] if you have other materials to share!
