SUMMARY
G LO B A L E D U C AT I O N M O N I TO R I N G R E P O R T 2 0 1 6
education, health and water and sanitation in support
of the Millennium Development Goals. Colombia’s
national development plan views education, peace
and equity as presidential priorities; it aims to be the
most educated country in Latin America by 2025.
F I G URE 6 :
Aid to basic education is not related to need
Total aid to basic education per primary school-age child (2014) and
primary completion rate (2008–2014)
Total aid to basic education per primary school-age child
(constant 2014 US$)
80
Timor-Leste
Government agencies typically tend to focus on policy
formulation and implementation in their respective
sectors, hampering coordination and collaboration.
Well-developed national plans that are linked to good
education financing plans and decentralized planning
and financing systems, and that lead to good crosssector integration, are the exception rather than the
rule in most poorer countries.
70
60
50
Afghanistan
Mongolia
Haiti
Liberia
40
30
Namibia
Senegal
20
Niger
10
0
Chad
0
25
Uganda
Mauritania
50
Primary completion rate (%)
75
100
Sources: GEM Report team analysis based on OECD Creditor Reporting System
data (2016); World Inequality Database on Education.
Donor agencies face two challenges in delivering
programmes that are consistent with the integrated
planning needs of the SDGs: they may lack a
coherent vision of their approach to development,
and they have difficulties coordinating multisector
programmes. Aid is not being allocated adequately
according to country needs. In Liberia and
Mauritania, about half the children complete primary
school, but Liberia receives 10 times the amount of
aid to basic education per school-age child.
PARTNERSHIPS
Local and national government authorities, civil society, academics, the scientific community, the private sector and
global multistakeholder organizations are some of the partners that can help implement global agendas such as the SDGs.
Civil society, the private sector and multistakeholder partnerships have substantial roles in financing, implementing
and ensuring mutual accountability of the new agenda, which is expected to be driven by national governments.
Increased civil society activity was a major achievement of the EFA agenda. But there are challenges in designing
civil society partnerships more productively. How can organizations heavily dependent on donor funding maintain an
independent voice? Another challenge is the enormous variety of disparate actors under the civil society umbrella.
The dynamism and funding that the private sector can bring to the SDGs is reason for optimism. But while
some hail the growth of private involvement as bringing financing, flexibility, innovation and improved learning
outcomes, sceptics see a potential for widening inequality and undue market influence in schooling.
The role of coordination and financing bodies is critical. The global education
coordination mechanism includes the SDG-Education 2030 Steering Committee,
Global Education Meetings, regional meetings and collective bodies of NGOs. The
Steering Committee is expected to be the main mechanism to support countries,
review progress and encourage coordination of partner activities. The Global
Partnership for Education, the education sector’s principal multistakeholder
partnership, could learn from such health sector partnerships as the Global Fund
for Tuberculosis, Aids and Malaria and GAVI, which leverage substantial funds. The
new Education Cannot Wait fund aims to raise money for targeted education for those affected by conflict, natural
disasters and disease outbreaks.
The role of coordination
and financing bodies is
critical to the success
of the SDG agenda
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