COVID-19 response
Allocation: US$3.5 million
Years: 2020-2022
Grant agent: UNICEF
Key document:
The US$3.5 million grant to Guinea-Bissau supports:
- Development of a distance education program based on the primary curricula, taking into account gender issues and children with special needs
- A non-formal radio distance education program targeting out-of-school children
- Assessment of the learning levels of preschool and primary school children to determine the loss of learning caused by school closures
- An accelerated education program based on the curricula of grade 1 to 6 for children out of school
- Vulnerable children at risk of dropping out of school through conditional cash transfer
- Strategies to address school-related gender-based violence
- School-based health, nutrition services and standards-based WASH facilities to prevent dropouts and keep children safe and healthy
- Training community volunteers to boost awareness-raising actions for the prevention of COVID-19 and the protection of children, as well as participation in actions to improve the school environment.
In late March 2020, the UNICEF office in Guinea-Bissau received a GPE grant of US$70,000 to support the Ministry of Education in planning its response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Education in Guinea-Bissau
The 2011-2013 transitional education plan (TEP) was endorsed in 2010 and the country organized its first and only joint sector review (JSR) in 2014.
The TEP could not be fully implemented due to the coup in 2012, when many donors withdrew. However, the country has taken positive steps by planning to organize annual JSRs as part of its new education sector plan (ESP) monitoring mechanism.
The 2017-2025 education sector plan was endorsed by development partners in 2017. Members of the local education group have strongly mobilized around the GPE model and have provided valuable technical and financial support to the government in the preparation of the sector plan.
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Fourth grade student at the Bissalanca Primary School. Guinea Bissau
The GPE grant of US$2.8 million supports activities designed to strengthen the resilience of Guinea-Bissau’s education system and support a system-wide education transformation that will leave no one behind.
The GPE program focuses on the following components:
- Strengthening institutional capacity by:
- Establishing clear organizational structures and building capacity within MENES to effectively carry out their responsibilities
- Providing full-time technical assistance at MENES to help mitigate ongoing risks related to frequent changes in leadership and weak capacity.
- Improving planning and management of resources by:
- Ensuring accurate data of the education system
- Developing a robust data set through a detailed school mapping exercise of the entire education system
- Developing procedures for the effective storage and management of learning materials at the school level.
- Strengthening citizen engagement through the development of feedback mechanisms; and addressing gender norms by, e.g., building the capacity of education administrators and school staff to prevent and report school-related gender-based violence.
Grants
All amounts are in US dollars.
| Grant type | Years | Allocations | Utilization | Grant agent | |
| Program implementation | 2021-2025 | 2,800,000 | 250,000 | WB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-2024 | 4,700,000 | 1,664,294 | WB | Progress report | |
| 2012-2017 | 12,000,000 | 11,981,725 | UNICEF | Progress report | |
| COVID-19 | 2020-2022 | 3,500,000 | 2,280,255 | UNICEF | |
| Sector plan development | 2017-2018 | 183,661 | 183,661 | UNICEF | |
| Program development | 2020-2021 | 136,000 | 131,944 | WB | |
| 2016-2018 | 200,000 | 197,335 | WB | ||
| Total | 23,519,661 | 16,689,214 |
As part of its investment in civil society advocacy and social accountability efforts, GPE’s Education Out Loud fund is supporting the Rede da Campanha da Educação Para Todos-Guiné-Bissau (RECEPT-GB) for the 2019-2021 period.
This builds on 11 years of Civil Society Education Fund (CSEF) support to national education coalitions for their engagement in education sector policy dialogue.
GPE had provided the Rede da Campanha da Educação Para Todos-Guiné-Bissau (RECEPT-GB) with a grant from the CSEF to support its engagement in education sector policy dialogue and citizens’ voice in education quality, equity, and financing and sector reform.