51820 VOLUME 1 ISSUE 7 EFA FTI Newsletter A Note from Bob Prouty, Acting Head, EFA ­ FTI Secretariat November 23, 2009 Dear partners, Inside This Issue These are challenging and exciting times for the EFA FTI partnership. Countries 1 Message from Bob Prouty, are showing unprecedented progress on EFA goals, particularly for girls` Acting Head, FTI Secretariat enrollments and primary completion rates. Recent studies on learning 2 Meet Carol Bellamy, New outcome assessments in numerous FTI countries however, show the enormity of Chair of the EFA-FTI Board of the quality challenge. The economic downturn globally places new pressures Directors on financing and some have questioned whether the FTI partnership will be able to respond quickly enough to meet these challenges. I believe the 2 1 Million out-of-school Children to Enroll into decisions taken during the recent FTI meetings in Rome provide a positive School with New Financing answer to the questions. 4 Preliminary Draft of FTI The November 2009 Board of Director`s meeting of the EFA FTI has given a Partnership Evaluation Welcomed by Board clear signal of its intent to strengthen the FTI partnership and to provide more focused leadership. Three decisions from Rome underscore this 5 Malawi's Education Plan determination: (i) the appointment of Carol Bellamy as chair of the Board and Endorsed by the EFA ­ FTI the trust fund committees as of the 1st of December, (ii) convening a special Partnership Board session early in 2010 discuss a strategic response to the forthcoming 6 $11.1 grant allocation to evaluation report. This session is set to agree on a new strategic vision for the support the Global partnership, and will consider some of the most sweeping changes to the Campaign for Education partnership since its creation in 2002, including a much stronger voice for 7 Madagascar and Guinea: partner countries; and (iii) general approval of the Policy and Capacity for Providing Support for Education (PACE) program. This is to be the successor program to the EPDF, Education during Uncertain beginning in July 2010 (there will be a period of overlap), and should Times of Political Transition contribute significantly to strengthening both the Local Education Group and 8 Successful Launch of the the capacity of governments to implement their Education Sector Plans. The One Goal Campaign decision to provide additional funding to GCE to continue its program to strengthen the role of CSO`s in FTI countries is a further signal of the openness 9 Upcoming Events of the partnership to much more participative approaches to achieving the EFA goals. It is clear that Carol Bellamy comes to the partnership at a time when there is Please send suggestions regarding a clear appetite for change, and already a fairly well sketched-out path this newsletter to: ahead. Her challenge will be to ensure that this vision becomes real, that the Akonate@worldbank.org or finances needed are mobilized, and that the focus of reform is on finishing the EFA challenge. The EFA kids`--the five- and six-year olds who will constitute ydoignon@educationfasttrack.org the class of 2015--are now entering school for the first time. Decisions taken in the coming months will go a long way to determining the success that they find there, and their overall opportunities going forward in life. As Ms. Bellamy will chair the FTI Board of Directors from the beginning of December onwards, I would like the thank the outgoing co-chairs Denmark and Italy for their hard work and guidance in the important reform process that has been set in motion over the past year. Robert Prouty ­ email: rprouty@educationfasttrack.org PAGE 2 EFA FTI NEWSLETTER ISSUE NOVEMBER 2009 Meet Carol Bellamy, New Chair of the EFA-FTI Board of Directors Carol Bellamy was appointed as Chair of the EFA FTI Board of Directors at a Board meeting on November 4, 2009 in Rome. Ms. Bellamy, a well-known international advocate for children's education and children's rights and UNICEF Executive Director from 1995 to 2005, will start her new position per December 1, 2009. FTI is the global fund for education and an example for aid effectiveness, says Carol Bellamy. As a country-based organization with strong bonds with the community and community leaders, the FTI model is uniquely positioned to Carol Bellamy respond to the demand of developing countries and ensure that the 2015 Millennium Goal of Universal Primary Education for all will be achieved. To respond to the challenges ahead, Bellamy points out, FTI needs to continue engaging country and community leaders particularly in the civil society. FTI is not a top-down organization, she emphasizes, but tries to empower its partners at the country level and give them a sense of ownership in the mission and objectives of the organization. Ms. Bellamy has familiarized herself with the EFA FTI over the past few months as senior advisor for the FTI resource mobilization campaign. The year 2010, she adds, will certainly be the year of international education with such exciting events as the One Goal Campaign. As we come closer to our 2015 objectives we need to rededicate ourselves to our mission and objectives and embrace the changes that will come our way. Malawi's Education Plan Endorsed by the For more information, please contact Angela Bekkers at abekkers@educationfasttrack.org or David Bridges at dbridges1@worldbank.org of the EFA FTI Secretariat. EFA- FTI Partnership ­ Page 3 Carol Bellamy`s biography is available on Wikipedia 1 Million Out-of-school Children to Enroll into School with New Financing EFA FTI announced at its donor meeting on 6 November 2009 in Rome the allocation of a total grant of US$ 153 million to Nepal (US$ 120 million), Lesotho (US$ 20 Million) and Tajikistan (US$ 13.5 Million) from EFA FTI's Catalytic Fund, a multilateral fund sponsored by 18 donors. This allocation will support Education for All programs in these countries and help enroll into school approximately 1 million out-of-school children and have them complete a primary education. While focusing on the needs of children previously left out of the school system, education projects in all three countries will also include teacher training, especially the recruiting of qualified applicants as well as supplying school materials and the rehabilitation of school facilities. I congratulate the donors in the FTI Catalytic Fund Committee for granting over US$150 million to countries in three regions -- Africa, South Asia, and Central Asia -- to scale up the implementation of their plans to achieve the education for all targets, says Robin Horn, World Bank Sector Manager for Education and Chair of the Catalytic Fund Committee. What is especially significant about these country programs is that they are fully supported by the remarkably strong collaboration between government and local development partners, which is the hallmark of the EFA FTI Partnership. For more information, please contact Kouassi Soman at Ksoman@educationfasttrack.org PAGE 3 EFA FTI NEWSLETTER ISSUE NOVEMBER 2009 Preliminary Draft of FTI Partnership Evaluation Welcomed by Board The FTI Board of Directors reviewed a preliminary draft of the independent evaluation during a Board meeting on November 3 in Rome. Recognizing that it was an early version of the final report, the Board welcomed several of the suggestions outlined. The main topics it deals with are those that have preoccupied the Board and the EFA FTI partnership for some time. The report reviews contributions FTI has made in endorsed countries in terms of educational outcomes, aid effectiveness and the monitoring of results, the need for further strategic and governance reform and is consistent with the directions of change under discussion or already under way. The evaluation is particularly timely as the partnership embarks on a drive to replenish its funding. The final draft report will become publicly available in December and will be discussed with interested stakeholders in December and January 2010, to be concluded at the UNESCO EFA High-level meeting in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, in February 2010. For more information, please contact: Ms. Linda English, lenglish@educationfasttrack.org or Ms. Sandra Barton, sbarton@educationfasttrack.org Malawi's Education Plan Endorsed by the EFA ­ FTI Partnership Malawi's 2008-2017 National Education Sector Plan (NESP) recently became endorsed by the worldwide EFA FTI partnership after having concluded a successful appraisal of the sector plan by the local donor group. Despite an economic growth of 7.9% in 2008 and 9% in 2008, Malawi remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Malawi`s concentration of population in rural areas, where school supply is scarcer, makes it a financial hurdle for the government as construction and rehabilitation of school facilities are particularly needed. If universal primary education is to be reached before 2015, primary school places for 4.8 million children will be needed by then, a 45% increase from 2008.Other challenges affecting Malawi's education sector are the pressures from a very large young population, a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS also among teachers, and having large vulnerable groups such as HIV/Aids orphans and marginalized people. The NESP goals are (i) expanded equitable access to education, (ii) improved quality and relevant education, and © Francis Dobbs, World Bank Photo Collection (iii) improved governance and management. For more information, contact Ms. Koli Banik at the EFA ­ FTI Secretariat, email: kbanik@educationfasttrack.org $11.1 grant allocation to support the Global Campaign for Education The EPDF committee has approved an $11.1 million grant to support the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) Civil Society Education Fund project in 2010. These funds are in addition to the $6 million that GCE already received to set up a funding process to build the capacity of national civil society coalitions in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The grant allocation will help monitor national education plans, track budgets and education sector spending, conduct policy-oriented research and lobby government officials on education issues. The overall aim is to ensure that national education coalitions in FTI partner countries can be more fully engaged with national governments and local donor groups in working towards the EFA goals. For more information, please contact: Ms. Linda English, lenglish@educationfasttrack.org PAGE 4 EFA FTI NEWSLETTER ISSUE NOVEMBER 2009 Madagascar and Guinea: Providing Support for Education during Uncertain Times of Political Transition The FTI Catalytic Fund (CF) Committee approved the proposal by education partners to spend $ 15 million through UNICEF in Madagascar to maintain the key activities and goals of the Education for All (EFA) plan. After the 2009 coup d`état and the political crisis that ensued, funding became scarce as donors backed down and the USD 85.1 million in FTI-CF allocation, necessary to the implementation of the education reform, was suspended. A complete funding freeze would thwart recent dramatic improvements in primary school enrolment and completion and partner donors therefore requested the Fast Track Initiative to release an initial allocation of 15 million USD to UNICEF for the period of January-June 2010. The allocation will provide for teachers` salaries and support vulnerable school as well as the construction of around 263 classrooms for communities without schools. In Guinea, following President Lansana Conté`s death and his government`s overthrow in December 2008, all aid including the FTI Catalytic Fund grant of US$117.8 million was suspended. To respond to the needs of more than 100,000 students who may miss out on education as well as the 1,200 schools facing operational costs shortfalls, the World Bank along with the Guinea Local Education Group is currently preparing a proposal for restructuring its program to be submitted to the next CF meeting in the spring 2010. The final decision on whether to reallocate the grant will take into account both this proposal and the outcome of the January 2010 national elections--in the hope that the political situation then normalizes. Successful Launch of the One Goal Campaign The One Goal Campaign was successfully launched on October 6 as world leaders and football stars gathered to promote education for all. The launch was endorsed by President Zuma in South Africa, UK Prime Minister Brown, Prime Minister Zapatero in Madrid, Prime Minister Balkenende in the Netherlands and video footage from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and President Mills from Ghana, under the leadership of the campaign's co-founder Queen Rania of Jordan. An important campaign to provide education to the still 75 million unschooled children who face a lifetime of poverty, One Goal will culminate at the FIFA World Cup final in South Africa in the summer 2010. On December 4, along Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and former footballer Ruud with the FIFA World Cup final draw in Cape Town and the selection of the Gullit are joined by excited young team groups, One Goal will organize events to draw attention to the footballers from the RAVA team upcoming campaign. As a major actor promoting universal primary education, partners of EFA-FTI proudly associate themselves with the One Goal Campaign. For more information, please visit the One Goal Campaign website at http://www.join1goal.org/ Upcoming events December 3, 2009 International Day of Disabled Persons - including events for inclusion of disabled children in education. Washington DC, USA (World Bank) December 8, 2009 Discussion of the final draft of the FTI evaluation report by the FTI Board of Directors and invited stakeholders, Paris, France (UNESCO) December 9 ­ 11, 2009 10th UNESCO Working Group on EFA. Paris, France January 21, 2010 Launch of the EFA Global Monitoring Report