North-South Collaboration and Challenges in supporting Quality Education for All (EFA)

1. North-South Collaboration and Challenges in supporting Quality Education for All (EFA) Presented by Chike Anyanwu Coordinator, Commonwealth Education Fund, UK To Danish Education NGO Network. Nov. 2005

2. Introduction • What is EFA? • Jomtien, Thailand 1990 • Dakar, Senegal 2000; Six EFA Goals • The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2000; 2nd and 3rd MDGs. • Overview of global EFA problems and some of the initiatives addressing them • Data;funding;capacity;missed promises and forgotten goals • constraints in the flow / relations between North and South in creating quality education for all. • What can northern NGOs and their southern counterparts do to support EFA • What has worked well in the relationship between ‘Northern and Southern NGOs

3. Six Dakar EFA Goals 2000 • Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children; • Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to a complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality; • Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes; • Achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults; • Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality; • Improving all aspects of the quality of education, and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy, and essential life skills.

4. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2000: • Goal 1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. • Goal 2 Achieve universal primary education • Goal 3 Promote gender equality and empower women • Goal 4 Reduce child mortality • Goal 5 Improve maternal health • Goal 6 Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases • Goal 7 Ensure environmental sustainability • Goal 8 A global partnership for development

5. Overview of global EFA problems and some of the initiatives addressing them • Data; • funding; • capacity; • missed promises and forgotten goals

6. Constraints in the flow / relations between North and South in creating quality education for all. • Conditionalities • Whose Realities and Priorities matters? • Shifting Agendas and Targets • Accountability

7. What can northern NGOs and their southern counterparts do to support EFA • Key word is Collaboration – genuine; mutual respect and trusting. • Join the Global Campaign for actualisation of Quality EFA • Support Southern Partners and Counterparts to be part of the Global movement for EFA. • Be part of the advocacy and better information sharing on the IFI’s conditionalities and its negative impact on EFA in the north and south. • Lobby Governments both in the North and South to understand the impact of Conditionalities. • Northern NGOs to use their understanding of Southern realities to influence their home governments.

8. What can northern NGOs and their southern counterparts do to support EFA- contd. • Support the both northern and southern views in global campaigns. • Support the full implementation of EFA goals as against some selected few –MDGs. • Better collaboration between northern NGOs and their southern counterparts on research, monitoring and evaluation, advocacy and policy analysis. • Challenge the ‘new donor power’ due to budget supports. • Participate actively in the processed of FTI. • Support capacity building – EFA means new ways of working – government, CSOs partnerships.

9. What has worked well in the relationship between ‘Northern and Southern NGOs • Global consensus to abolish user fees in education. • Emergence of the Global Campaign for Education –GCE and regional Networks (ANCEFA- Africa; ASPBE-Asia) and national EFA coalitions, networks and alliances. • Successful joint campaigns – Zambia campaign on teachers with VSO, GCE, ZANEC, ANCEFA and Zambia MoE. • Joint studies carried on EFA between north NGOs and southern counterparts – promoting economic literacy, lobbying and advocacy skills. • Establishment of CEF. • Influencing global EFA agenda. • More happening but not reported here – more sharing and learning.

10. Thank you for listening • Documents can be found on the following websites: • Contradicting Commitments: www.actionaidusa.org or www.campaignforeducation.org • Writing the Wrongs:International Benchmarks on Adult Literacy: www.actionaid.org or www.campaignforeducation.org • Changing course:Alternative Approaches to Achieve the MDGs and fight HIV/AIDS:www.actionaidusa.org • Impact of IMF Conditionality on Education Provision: Case Study Mongolia: www.savethechildren.org