The Interactions Between Global Education Initiatives and National Education Policy and Planning Processes: A Comparative Case Study of the Education For All Fast Track Initiative in Rwanda and Ethiopia

CREATE Publication :"The Interactions Between Global Education Initiatives and National Education Policy and Planning Processes: A Comparative Case Study of the Education For All Fast Track Initiative in Rwanda and Ethiopia" by Desmond Bermingham, July 2011

The Education for All Fast Track Initiative (FTI) was launched in 2002 as a global initiative to help low income countries accelerate progress towards the MDG target of universal primary education by 2015 (FTI, 2004a). The initiative was announced by the World Bank at the Dakar World Education Forum as a way of delivering the commitment that no country with a credible education plan would be prevented from achieving the Education for All goals due to lack of resources (UNESCO, 2000). The FTI was intended to mobilise additional resources from donors to support education sector plans in developing countries. As well as raising funds, the FTI was intended to promote aid effectiveness by following the principles of donor harmonisation and alignment in the education sector (FTI, 2004a). The FTI has developed as one of the most important global partnerships in the education sector. There has however also been widespread criticism of the FTI for failing on its promises to mobilise more finance and secure more effective aid delivery. This monograph provides additional evidence on the operations of the FTI on the ground by drawing on the findings of a comparative country case study of the FTI in Rwanda and Ethiopia...