TEMP IFirst course: Education and

Development in the Context of Globalization Jan 01-Feb26

Day 4, Theme 4: Education actors - Multilateral education

Some related concepts

• Local Global• National International• Bilateral Multilateral• State Civil society (NGOs) (p5)• UN organizationINGOs• Transnational Globalization• Global governance (p343)

Development Cooperation- What , Why, How?

Development cooperation is financial aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social and political development of developing countries.

A partnership should exist between donor and recipient

Aid may be:Bilateral: given from one country directly to another; or Multilateral: given by the donor country to an international organisation such as the WB or the UN agencies which then distributes it among the developing countries.

Actors in development: International, national and local

• International actors have been playing key roles in development at the national and local levels – international goals and targets like MDG and EFA

• National and local actors are active in planning and implementing development at the national and local level

Who are International actors ?

– Donor countries, – Multi-nationals, – UN agencies,– International banks, – Development organizations,– International civil societies – etc

Why these organizations? • Lack of systems that could plan, implement and

manage development, technical expertise, and financial investments were seen as the main constraints of development in poor countries

• So, international development actors came in

• A concern is whether such development assistance is based upon the concept of equality and partnership or on some form of hegemonic domination

Multilateral Organizations and education

• Four UN agencies involved in promoting advancement of education:

• UNESCO - a UN specialised agency, characterised by questioning some aspects of westernization and globalization

• UNICEF - Right-based approach to education; • WB - the strongest player - championing

economic globalization.• UNDP- a human development orientation

Cont

• Although all are from UN system, they are different in regard to their way of governance, mandates, sources of funding and ways of working.

• Appears to be competitors as much as collaborators• All committed to the development of education• Global Education Programs influence international

and national policies of education

Actors of development at the national level

• A state is often recognized as corrupt, badly gripped by nepotism, slow, rigid and hierarchic and thus inefficient

• Despite all these criticisms, it is the state that has been planning, implementing and managing development (others are just assisting the state)

• Other national actors: civil societies or non-government organizations, political parties, national markets, etc

National actors, cont.

• The state can play a facilitating role by instituting and strengthening local institutes of development, and making provisions for legal, financial and other necessary support

Education in the new architecture of aid: the Paris Declaration

• Criticism of aid efficiency over four decades.• New ways must be found to strengthen national

ownership to poverty oriented strategies and national capacity to implement them.

• Goals have been set: MGD, EFA,..Changes in development cooperation:• From Donor - receiver perspective to partnership• From Donor driven to developing ownership

Cont

– Harmonization - donors work together– Alignment and mutual accountability - use partner

countries strategies and existing system and strengthen it

– Managing for development results - clear results and measurable to improve the poor

Civil Society and the governance of Education for All

• Civil Society is given more and more space as education actor

• It is seen important as:– Individual citizen oversight in management and of local

services– Opportunities for resource generation on local level– Local accountability and participation mechanism– Decentralization of governance– Localizing governance reforms in education– Democratization of education governance– Mobilize citizen voice in the achievement of EFA

Two roles of Civil society

• It legitimates national plans; and• Holds governments accountable to

commitments

Topic for group work

• Read pages in..