Teaming up to mobilize resources for the promotion of  literacy and adult education in Guinea

With the global crisis caused by Covid-19, most of the resources of development partners are directed to face the health emergency. However, the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) maintain his support to member countries in advocacy and social responsibility 2019-2024 through the “Education Out Loud” fund. This fund is to support the activities of civil society and to influence the development of educational policies in order to better meet the needs of communities, in particular those who are vulnerable and marginalized. In order to maximize their chance of obtaining the grant for their country, CSOs in the education sector in Guinea made a joint submission to the call for projects launched in April 2020.

These seven (7) associations or networks in the education sector formed the consortium to apply for the fund:

• National Coalition of Guinea for Education For All (CNG / EPT) designated as leader
• PAMOJA-Guinea,
• Guinean Network for Literacy (REGA),
• Guinean Federation of Parents of Pupils and Friends of the School (FEGUIPAE),
• Professional Trade Union of Teachers (FSPE),
• Forum of Educators of Guinea (FEG / FAWE)
• National Observatory of Basic Education (ONEB).

They have chosen the headquarters of Pamoja Guinea to host the working sessions for process.

The consortium decide to tender for component 2 of the fund which aims to “Strengthen civil society roles in promoting the transparency and accountability of national education sector policy and implementation“. After exchanges and discussions around the project ideas, ​​the idea of “Independent monitoring of the ProDEG’s (Educational Development Project in Guinea) implementation process by the Civil Society” was finally adopted. The Consortium have decided to submit a national coverage project with a three (3) years’ duration. A technical team of five (5) members (including the Executive Secretary of PAMOJA Guinea, Mrs. Fatoumata DABO CAMARA) was established for the designing of the proposal. The team was coached by a national education consultant.

The writing and submission methodology followed four steps. First, for five (5) days, the members of the technical team carried out the document review and analysis of all the useful information on education in the world, in Africa and in Guinea, related to the identified project idea. After this phase, a writing framework was defined for the preparation of the first draft, following the guidelines of the GPE. This draft was sent to the Consultant for analysis and amendment, and discussed in plenary. The third step was to share the draft with some strategic partners. Thus, organizations such as GIZ, UNICEF, ProDEG and other resource persons were consulted for their criticisms and amendments regarding the relevance of the key activities of the project. The last step was to validate the project and send it to the GPE. The various opinions of partners and resource persons were appreciated and taken into account in the final document which was sent before the close of the call on June 19, 2020.

The process was carried out from the beginning to the end with strict compliance with the barrier measures (facial mask, distancing, etc.) against the spread of Covid-19. All CSOs in the consortium understood the importance of networking and mutual engagement to continue the achievement of SDG-4 despite the global health situation.