Operational Component 1, 2 & 3

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EOL’s grants fall under three different funding streams: Operational Component 1,2 and 3, with grant sizes varying for each component. These three Operational Component (OC) ensures that Education Out Loud supports civil society engagement in education systems at subnational, national and transnational levels.

Operational Component 1

Under Operational Component 1 (OC1), 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

OC1 builds on the strengths of the previous Civil Society Education Fund (CSEF) which was active between 2009 and 2019 and continues to support to national and regional education coalitions. OC1 provides grants to over 60 National Education Coalitions (NECs) worldwide. Under OC1, Education Out Loud also supports the Global Campaign for Education and its regional coalitions CLADE, ASPBAE, and ACEA. They have a wide membership and worldwide activities which are not part of the below country based information.

Discover more about the National Education Coalitions in the different regions and the important work they do here.

Grant size: Up to 137,000 US dollars per year.

All calls for proposals for OC1 are now closed.

Operational Component 2

Under Operational Component 2 (OC2), Education Out Loud provides grants to national civil society organizations working on improving transparency and effectiveness of national education policies.

Strengthen civil society promoting transparency and advocacy

OC2 aims at strengthening civil society in promoting transparency and accountability of national education sector policy and implementation, and is supporting projects seeking to:

  • Improve transparency, participation, and accountability in education sector policy dialogue and the processes leading to policy influence.
  • Increase the availability, sources, and variety of information to formulate and act on relevant strategic areas.
  • Mobilize citizens as rights holders to play an active role in monitoring th implementation and financing of education policies – and use this information to hold duty bearers at all levels accountable.

The OC2 component thus aims to ensure that civil society groups in a selected number of countries can undertake strategic multi-level monitoring of education policy and budget implementation and use evidence gathering to develop accountability mechanisms and act on relevant policy solutions.

Ultimately, governments should become more efficient and effective in delivering quality education services to children and young people, including marginalized and vulnerable communities. This way the OC2 grantees will contribute to:

  • Data and evidence gathering for policy changes and/or monitoring of government commitments.
  • Strengthen multi-level monitoring.
  • Strengthen civil society capacity to mobilise citizens.
  • Engage in learning collaboratives and peer learning with other CSOs.
  • Participate actively in national SDG 4 processes and other national monitoring mechanisms of education policies.

OC2 grantees

OC2 grants can be implemented by a national CSO or by alliances of national and subnational civil society actors. National organisations could include trade unions, women’s groups, youth groups, minority groups, school management committees, etc.

Discover more about the civil society organisations supported under OC2 and their important work here.

Grant size: Up to 250,000 US dollars per year.

All calls for proposals for OC2 are now closed.

Operational Component 3

Under Operational Component 3 (OC3), grants are provided to transnational civil society alliances, i.e. alliances of civil society organisations within a region or, in one case, civil society organisations across the world but working together with a common goal.

With these grants EOL supports the alliances to carry out innovative multi-country advocacy and thereby influence transnational and national policy frameworks.

Creating an enabling environment for civil society policy advocacy

OC3 aims to create an enabling transnational environment for civil society policy advocacy and transparency efforts in education. The OC3 component thus supports projects seeking to:

  • Open up transnational policy debates to citizens’ voices and engage more civil society representatives so that a wider range of opinions and lived realities are heard.
  • Contribute to the democratization and responsiveness of transnational policymaking.
  • Promote policy agendas that are more responsive to citizens’ interests as rights holders.
  • Develop more conducive transnational and regional conditions for relevant national policy setting.

In this way, OC3 aims to support civil society alliances to collaborate on transnational initiatives and campaigns that influence education policy at country level, particularly in the areas of equity, aid effectiveness, financing, and cross-sectoral synergies.

The OC3 projects will contribute to:

  • Creating space and ways for national actors to collaborate and share knowledge and experiences across borders.
  • Interventions connecting national strategies and advocacy in a multi-country approach to influence global and regional policies.
  • Interventions to promote policy agendas that are responsive to citizens’ interests and developed in democratic ways.

OC3 grantees

One civil society organisation may apply for Operational Component 3 (OC3) funding on behalf of global, regional, or multi-country civil society alliances that include at least one national civil society actor.

Discover more about the alliances that are supported under OC3 and their important work here.

Grant size: Up to 320,000 US dollars per year.

All calls for proposals for OC3 are now closed.