EFA FTI is now the Global Partnership for Education

Posted: 21 Sep 2011 06:00 AM PDT

The Education for All – Fast Track Initiative officially became the Global Partnership for Education with an announcement and unveiling at the United Nations General Assembly in New York today.  The change in our name is a response to our successes over the last 10 years and our redoubled commitment to making sure all children in low-income countries have access to quality education and opportunities to learn. Why a new name? We are changing our name for a host of good reasons. When EFA FTI began 10 years ago, the name did not need to provide much information since the program was something of a private club, where membership was by invitation only and dependent upon the approval of other “members.” As we worked with more developing countries and responded to increasing challenges, expectations put upon us grew and the Fast Track Initiative name began to present somewhat of a communications challenge when interacting with current or future members, donors, or stakeholders.  One critic complained that the Fast Track Initiative wasn’t very fast, wasn’t on track, and wasn’t showing enough initiative.  While his comments weren’t entirely fair, they reflected very high expectations about what we could do and how fast we could get things done. The  Global Partnership for Education has dramatically impacted the lives of children around the world In retrospect, it is clear some expectations were unrealistic; however, it is also clear how much we have accomplished. The partnership has helped 46 low-income countries, many of them affected by conflict or crisis, enroll 19 million children into school. Here are more specifics of our accomplishments: The number of out-of-school children in our developing country partners has dropped twice as fast as in non-partner countries. In nearly all member countries, major milestones towards gender equality have been achieved:  For all but a handful of member countries, gender parity at school entry has been achieved. At the same time, girls’ completion rate for primary school went from 54% in 2002 to 65% in 2009, and continues to climb.  In 2002 there were 15 countries in the world with repetition rates over 20%. 11 choose to join the Global Partnership for Education and by 2009; only 4 continue to have repetition rates above 20%.  Since 2002 more than $2 billion has been granted to improve access to school and the quality of schooling.  We have reformed our governance and structure to be more responsive and reflective, replacing the old donor-dominated Steering Committee with a Board of Directors where developing partner countries and NGOs hold more than half of the seats. The new Global Partnership for Education reflects a renewed commitment to our mission Simply put, the Fast Track Initiative works.  Our partnership model generates good will and good results and has become an example of aid effectiveness principles, where countries have ownership and accountability both.  We have outgrown our original name and are changing it to better reflect who we are, what we do, and how we do it. As we begin a new era as the Global Partnership for Education, we begin with a renewed commitment to safeguarding the rights of all children in low-income countries by giving them an education that opens up lifelong opportunities and helping those countries get on the fast track to development that education represents. This change is about the future, looking at how we work together as partners to ensure that all children in poor countries have access to quality education and opportunities to learn.  I encourage you to check out our new logo,  learn more about our results and successes, our replenishment campaign for 2011-14 to reinvigorate political and economic support for education overall, and our renewed commitment to providing a  good quality education for all children.