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WASHINGTON, DC, June 21, 2011 – Civil society plays a vital role to support and push governments to prioritize investments in education. Over the past decade, civil society organizations (CSOs) have been advocates and implementers of policies and practice at the local level. Civil society coalitions link parents, teachers, women’s rights advocates, faith based groups, social movements, child labor activists, the media, community- based organizations and NGOs to ensure transparency and accountability in government spending on education.

CSOs have increasingly been called to assume greater responsibilities in policy dialogue and independent monitoring of processes and progress. However, lack of both funding and capacity were serious roadblocks to becoming full-fledged interlocutors in the development agenda.

In 2009, EFA FTI stepped up efforts to empower CSOs and, together with the Global Campaign for Education (GCE),  responded to capacity gaps by launching the Civil Society Education Fund (CSEF) with a US$17.6 million contribution from EFA FTI.  The CSEF is designed to strengthen national education coalitions and help them track the progress of national governments and local donor groups towards the Education for All goals set out in the Dakar Framework for Action and the EFA FTI’s Charter.

The CSEF goals are to (a) establish or strengthen broad based and democratically run national education coalitions, and (b) build the capacity of national education coalitions to advocate for policy change and institutional reforms at country level. The funds flow from GCE to regional fund managers in Africa, Asia and Latin America, which then disburse grants to national education coalitions. As presented in the latest implementation progress report, the CSEF has achieved significant successes:

• National education coalitions in 42 countries have received grants: 25 in Africa, 13 in Asia and 4 in Latin America
• In 31 countries, national education coalitions are recognized as partners in the Local Education Group. In June 2009, in only 18 countries, national education coalitions were part of the Local Education Group.
• New national education coalitions were established in Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Vietnam, Mongolia, East Timor, and Bolivia.
• The number of legally registered national education coalitions increased markedly from 13 (2009) to 30 by December 2010.
• The CSEF helped streamline and better coordinate national education advocacy through national education coalitions.
• Budget tracking has been used to investigate whether national budgets are being implemented in line with existing policy guidelines. It has also been used to assess whether resources allocated to the sector do indeed reach the intended beneficiaries.

Learn more

• CSEF highlights and achievements
• Read examples of National Education Coalitions in action:

• In Ghana, an Educational Resource Tracking Survey helps improve educational resources
• In Mozambique, civil society plays a stronger role in policymaking
• In Malawi, civil society becomes  actively involved in school budget