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commonwealth
education fund
coalitions
CEF objective:
strengthening broad-based and democratically run national education coalitions, with active membership across the country, to enable local voices and experiences to influence national-level policy and practice
CEF has played a lead role in improving coordination around education across civil society in all 16 countries, enabling a coherent voice to be presented to government. This is essential when there are often hundreds or even thousands of different NGOs in a country, and it is impossible for governments to meaningfully involve them in a process unless they are coordinated.
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CEF National Coalition Partners CEF supported the formation of four new national coalitions and the strengthening of 12 national coalitions (many of which had only just been formed), between them inovlving over 2,100 organisations. CEF helped enable national civil society education coalitions to extend beyond the capital city and have a presence at provincial/district level, which helped highlight the challenges faced by education systems in different parts of the country, for example to respond to the needs of pastoralist communities, conflict-affected districts or very remote regions. Below are links to the coalition websites or to the GCE page listing the coalition contact details. |
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BANGLADESH Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) is a network of more than 400 NGOs involved in the basic education sector. CAMPE works to facilitate the participation of stakeholders of primary education at all levels, ensure the formal inclusion of decentralised voices into national coalitions and facilitate policy formulation on National Education Policy, PRSP, and Primary Education Development Program II and monitor policy implementation. |
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CAMEROON Cameroon Education for All Network (CEFAN) is a successful education platform for civil society organisations, recognised by the Ministry of Basic Education, the national Coordination of EFA, UNESCO and UNICEF.It has conducted advocacy activities, including research and campaigning to improve teachers’ working conditions. |
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THE GAMBIA Education For All Campaign Network (EFANet) is a network structure for promoting EFA goals,and involving different actors across the country by creating awareness on issues such as gender and education. EFANet carries out advocacy work including during Global Action Week and participates in EFA policy formulation, review and implementation both locally and internationally. |
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GHANA Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) is a network of civil society organisations established in 1999. GNECC's main goal is to advocate for the attainment of the Education for All declaration and the Millennium Development Goals in Ghana. Northern Network for Educational Development (NNED) is a network of civil society organisations whose aim is to harmonise the collective efforts, energy and resources of all people with interest in Northern Ghana to address challenges facing education development. |
 
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KENYA Elimu Yetu Campaign Coalition (EYC) During CEF support EYC launched six provincial chapters, and increased its membership from 90 to 120. EYC conducted research and activities to influence policy and monitor education budgets. Its work helped open up policy-making processes, formerly the preserve of government officials. When the National Plan on EFA was launched, the Education Minister recognised the role of EYC in its development and publication. |
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LESOTHO Campaign for Education Forum (CEF-Forum) is a coalition of education NGOs that has been established with CEF support. Comprised of NGOs, trade unions, community and faith-based groups, CEF-Forum works to strengthen civil society advocacy within the education sector to promote access to free, compulsory and quality education as a human right, with no gender discrimination. |
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MALAWI Civil Society Coalition for Quality Basic Education (CSCQBE) is made up of 42 civil society organisations who aim is to ensure quality basic education Malawi. One of CSCQBE's activities is monitoring government spending. So far CSCQBE has produced 2 budget monitoring reports. |
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MOZAMBIQUE Mozambican Network on Education For All (MEPT) has made significant contributions to education policy and review, and helped change the way the Ministry of Education and Culture works with civil society. MEPT has acted for greater community involvement in school management, education budget allocations as well improved teacher recruitment and living conditions. |
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NIGERIA Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA) has grown from 40 members in 2002 to more than 400 members nationwide.CSACEFA and partners input into national and state level government education strategic planning and analysis. CSACEFA is a member of: the Technical Committee on Teacher Development, Presidential Advisory Committee on MDGs, National Council on Education, and Presidential Advisory Committee on Universal Basic Education. |
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PAKISTAN Pakistan Coalition for Education (PCE) is a coalition of civil society partners and individuals joined together to raise voice on the issues surrounding the education sector in Pakistan and advocate the same. PCE came into being in April 2004 after a series of consultations facilitated by CEF Pakistan. |
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SIERRA LEONE EFA Coalition Sierra Leone (EFA-SL Coalition) has 50 active member organisations, and is managed by a national executive committee. It seeks to make basic education accessible and affordable for every child by organising advocacy campaigns to mobilise, influence and monitor the government and international community to deliver on EFA/MDG commitments. |
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SRI LANKA National Coalition for Educational Development (NCED) Founded in 2004, the CED enshrines the idea that linkages among policy makers, researchers and civil society groups are essential to formulate viable educational policies of wider application and make insightful decisions. CED works to increase the power and leverage of civil society organisations, professional associations and individuals to advocate for educational development. |
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TANZANIA Tanzania Education Network (TENMET) is an national education network supporting and linking with civil society organisations to help local communities to carry out advocacy work to influence policies for quality basic education for all. For more information see the TEN/MET brochure and website. |
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UGANDA Forum for Education NGOs (FENU) membership includes national and international NGOs, faith-based organisations, Uganda National Teachers Union, other groups and individual educationists. FENU promotes civil society participation in the development and implementation of education policies and has helped influence the Joint Education Sector Reviews and represented CSO voices in various groups such as the Education Sector Consultative Council (ESCC) bimonthly meetings. |
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ZAMBIA Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) is a network of civil society organisations in the education sector made up of NGOs, teachers' unions, community and faith-based groups, formed to foster interaction among various stakeholders and accelerate the attainment of Education for All (EFA) Goals by 2015. ZANEC’s strategy to foster this interaction is through capacity building, research and advocacy. |
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Documents by CEF and partners about coalition building processes and advocacy work |
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| Driving the Bus: The Journey of National Education Coalitions K. Tomlinson and I. Macpherson (2007) What is the meaning and role of coalitions? What are the origins and stimuli for coalition building? What is happening within a coalition? What might not be working well and how might this be corrected? This toolkit provides evidence-based possible answers to these questions, using examples of coalitions examined during a 17-country research project in Africa, Asia and the UK. The booklet is intended as a tool for reflection and analysis for anyone involved in or supporting a national coalition, or wanting to get involved in one, either in education or other sectors. The booklet uses a bus as a metaphor for a coalition, to help think about where any particular coalition has come from and where it is going to. The bus is the coalition, the passengers are its members, the road is filled with other people or organisations working towards Education for All (EFA), and the destination is what the coalition is trying to achieve. French version Conduire le bus: Le voyage des coalitions nationales de l'éducation Spanish version Conducir el Autobús: El viaje de las coaliciones nacionales de educación Portuguese version Dirigindo o ônibus: A jornada das coalizões nacionais de educação |
 click on the image to open the report in English use the links on the left for other language versions |
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Civil Society Organisations in Policy Processes: Workshops on Advocacy in Education Commonwealth Education Fund (CEF) and Research and Policy in Development (RAPID)/Overseas Development Institute (2005/2006) Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) play an important role in influencing policies and practices to make them pro-poor. In the ever changing and complex world of policy advocacy CSOs are increasingly recognising the need to understand policy processes better, use evidence to engage with them more effectively and develop strategies in order to engage with policymakers in a more systematic way so as to make their contributions have sustained impact on development policy. CEF and RAPID collaborated to deliver an initial two day workshop in Zambia in 2005. Following this, two CEF/RAPID workshops were held in 2006 in Mozambique and Bangladesh, focusing on how CEF and its partners in Africa and Asia can better use evidence to promote pro-poor policies. Active participation was the cornerstone of the approach in the workshops, with emphasis placed on participants' own knowledge and experience. |
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to RAPID/ODI page on Civil Society Organisations in Policy Processes:
Workshop in Advocacy in Education CEF/RAPID Workshops WORKSHOP REPORT: Policy Entreprenurship and Advocacy Workshop for Education CSOs - held in Zambia (2005) WORKSHOP REPORT: Policy Entrepreneurship and Advocacy Workshop for Education CSOs - held in Mozambique (2006) WORKSHOP REPORT: CEF-RAPID Workshop on Policy Analysis, Engagement and Advocacy - held in Bangladesh (2006) |
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Managing our Schools Today: A Practical Guide on Participatory School Governance PAMOJA - ANCEFA (2005) Manual for training and advocacy work, produced as a joint initiative between ANCEFA and PAMOJA. Attempts have been made to have the manual simple and practical as possible with relevant illustrations where applicable. It was inspired by a school governance workshop held in Tanzania in 2004, which demonstrated the need for a manual focusing primarily on good governance of schools. |
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Capacity Building and Development for Education Networks ANCEFA (2003) Matrix for advocacy planning for education networks and coalitions.This template is designed to help organisations working in the education begin thinking about how they could use networks for advocacy work, to help improve the education problems they see. The idea for this template originated in the ANCEFA East Africa Sub-Region workshop in Tanzania in 2003. |
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Examples of advocacy documents/policy papers by CEF partners |
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Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) - Bangladesh Education For All: Commitment and Reality in Bangladesh; Position Paper of Civil Society (2004) |
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| Ghana
National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) Comminique issued in response to the Government's White Paper on the Education Review Committee Committee's Report (2005) |
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| Northern
Network for Education Development (NNED) - Ghana Statement on the New Education Bill (2004) Statement on the Language Policy (2003) |
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| Coalition
for Quality Basic Education (CSCQBE) - Malawi A Report on the Spot Check Exercise for the 2004/05 Financial Year (2005) Civil Society Basic Education Monitoring for Financial Year 2003-04 and Overview of 2004/05 Budget Estimates (2005) |
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| Campaign
for Education Forum (CEF-Forum) - Lesotho Civil Society Review of the Education Act 1995. Document submitted to the Ministry of Education and Training (2005) |
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CEF regional coalition partners CEF also supported regional organisations so that they could provide a wider perspective and strengthen national level capacities. |
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| ASPBAE
Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education |
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| PAMOJA Africa Reflect Network |
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| GCE Global Campaign for Education |
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External resources |
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Save the Children Working for Change in Education: A Handbook for Planning Advocacy (2001) |
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| Department
for International Development (2004) Facilitating Networks: A Good Practice Guide |
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| U.S.
Agency for International Development, Africa Bureau, Office of Sustainable
Development. Sharma, R. An Introduction to Advocacy: A Training Guide |
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