Since 2014, the Global Partnership for Education has been facilitating a platform for collaborative development that brings together its 65 developing country partners (DCPs) ahead of the biannual GPE Board of Directors meetings.
These pre-Board constituency meetings, as we call them, help strengthen the role of GPE developing country partners in the governance of the partnership – something that is core to our understanding of a strong partnership. The meetings foster the engagement of GPE’s developing country partners in decision-making, strategy, policy, and advocacy processes, so that decisions made at the global level can make a positive impact at the country level.
The meetings also help promote the sharing of good practices among the countries, to allow the partners to address and overcome common challenges they face.
An independent evaluation confirming the value of pre-Board constituency meetings
Between February and June 2017, Universalia conducted an independent evaluation to analyze the extent to which the DCP pre-Board constituency meetings are meeting their objective of supporting a stronger engagement and voice for the DCP constituencies in the governance of GPE.
Overall, the findings demonstrate that the DCP pre-Board meetings are delivering a substantial value for money, and that partner countries see a clear benefit in these opportunities to come together.
The evaluation confirms that the engagement of DCP constituency representatives on the GPE Board has increased, and DCP Board members feel that their ability to represent their constituencies has improved. That’s primarily because the meetings provide an opportunity for DCP constituencies to consult and coordinate their position prior to Board meetings.
The findings also demonstrate that DCP pre-Board meetings are an effective mechanism for consultations between the GPE Secretariat and DCPs because they allow for increased knowledge and understanding of GPE’s policies, goals and objectives and have helped participants to better understand proposed Board decisions.
Making the meetings more efficient
The evaluation also highlights a few areas that can be improved to make the meetings more efficient. Feedback highlighted in particular time constraints resulting from jam-packed agendas at the meetings and lack of time to consult with education ministries at home. We also understand that knowledge and good practice exchange and peer-to-peer learning between the participants is in high demand and we look forward to increasing our efforts in this area.
Looking ahead
The evaluation offers useful recommendations to make the DCP pre-Board meetings more efficient. One idea is to establish a working group of DCP representatives and GPE Secretariat staff to develop the meeting agendas jointly to ensure that there is sufficient time and attention placed on the items of most interest to our developing country partners. The first meeting of this working group is planned for late September to prepare for the next DCP pre-Board meeting at the end of November.
The GPE Secretariat remains committed to ensure that DCP pre-Board constituency meetings continue to serve as a valuable resource to developing country partners, and as a key vehicle for ensuring that their voice and contributions are fully reflected throughout the entire partnership.