The education system of Cameroon is marked by a low pre-school enrolment rate and a low level of funding for the education and training sector. Girls and children with disabilities in schools are the most affected.

The project, led by Cameroon Education for All Network (CEFAN), will work to strengthen the commitment of the national coalition of Cameroonian CSOs in developing, implementing, and monitoring inclusive and gender sensitive public education policies. More specifically, CEFAN will focus its efforts on the development, implementation, and monitoring of the Education and Training Sector Strategy Paper (DSSEF) and the National Inclusive Education Policy (PNEI), both currently being finalised, as well as other inclusive and gender sensitive education policies. 

The project is continuing the efforts made, during the previous project phase between April 2022 – December 2023. During the current phase, key activities will include: 

• Capacity building sessions on awareness raising techniques, advocacy, and evidence mobilisation for both coalition members and local stakeholders.
• Awareness-raising campaigns on the right to education for people with special needs. 
• Conducting studies on issues sensitive to groups with special needs, in particular girls and children with disabilities, and disseminating these studies. 
• Workshops to update CEFAN's strategic plan and to lobby members of parliament. 
• CEFAN participates actively in policy dialogue frameworks, in particular the Local Education Partners Group (GLPE) and the Education Cluster.

The above activities will help achieve the following specific objectives of the project: CEFAN mobilising more evidence to better structure its advocacy, taking greater account of groups with specific needs; CEFAN strengthening its institutional and organisational set-up, including its member organisations, in order to increase its effectiveness in driving the desired change; and finally, CEFAN increases its capacity to influence policy makers by strengthening its allies, including its learning collaboratives, and increasing its participation in local, national and international policy dialogue frameworks. 

By the end of the project phase, CEFAN is expecting to have contributed to: 

1. The gross pre-school enrolment rate increases by at least 3 pct. With the current benchmark of 39 pct, the hope is to achieve 42 pct. by 2026. 
2. The share of the budget allocated to education and training increases by at least 3 pct. and reaches at least 18 pct. by 2026. 

The Cameroon Education for All Network is the Cameroonian national coalition, costing of more than 60 civil society organisations in education. Since its creation in 2005, the coalition has been dedicated to monitoring public education policies through evidence-based advocacy. It is a national not-for-profit and apolitical association under Cameroonian law.

A previous phase of the project was carried out between April 2022 – December 2023. The current project is part of the EOL extension phase of 2024-2026. Read more about the previous phase of the project here.