Under the Operational Component 1 (OC1), one of Education Out Louds funding streams, The National Education Coalitions (NECs) are provided with grants to hold governments to account on their duties to provide access to quality education in an inclusive and gender-responsive manner. 
As such, Education Out Loud (EOL) provides a unique opportunity for locally led responses that support the ambitions and strategies of national civil society.

Empowering Civil Society for Inclusive and Gender-Responsive Education

OC1 aims at strengthening national civil society engagement in social accountability and inclusive and gender responsive education policy development, implementation, and monitoring. Practically, this is done by providing long-term and programmatic funding to The National Education Coalitions. Through the OC1 grants, Education Out Loud also provides continuous individual support and learning opportunities to The National Education Coalitions to strengthen capacities in influencing education policies and achieving their goals.

The OC1 component has a central role in transforming education in the future. They will contribute to:

• Support and amplify national-level civil society voices on the right to education for marginalized and excluded groups, including girls, youth, and children with disabilities.
• Strategic influence in planning, implementation, and monitoring of education policies, planning and implementation.
• Enable The National Education Coalitions to actively engage in policy dialogues and discussions, including local education groups. 
• Inclusive and gender responsive education planning, policy development and monitoring have been influenced by civil society in a significant number of countries.

OC1 Grantees

Operational Component 1 (OC1) provides grants to over 60 National Education Coalitions (NECs) worldwide, as well as to the Global Campaign for Education and regional coalitions such as the Arab Coalition for Education for All, the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education, and the Campaña Latinoamericana por el Derecho a la Educación.

Education Out Loud (EOL) supports these entities primarily for two reasons:

1. To enhance their capacity development and provide strategic political guidance to EOL-supported NECs.
2. To strengthen their regional education advocacy efforts.
    

Discover more about The National Education Coalitions in the different regions and the important work they do on the projects page.

You can also read more about how Education Out Loud is supporting civil society to monitor education policies, budget implementation and hold governments accountable, in this article.