Whereas, the aim and requirement of OC1 is to strengthen national civil society commitment in gender-justice education planning, policy development and monitoring, and in meeting the goals of SDG4 and SDG5/2030. These goals should be achieved to ensure quality, inclusive and equitable education.

The low level of education in the country's education system, not only in terms of access and permanence, but also the low funding for education, together with the high social tension caused by recurring strikes in the sector, have contributed to the fact that according to the latest housing census of 2009, half the population in Guinea-Bissau cannot read or write, making it one of the poorest countries in the world.

To this end, and to reverse these indicators, the RECEPT-GB is planning to carry out several awareness campaigns and advocacy in various sectors such as the educational communities, opinion leaders, central government, private sector and funders of the education sector. To this end we will contribute to 5 long term changes that will ensure quality and inclusive education.

These are:

1. Adequate funding for education in Guinea-Bissau
2. Transparency in policies and public accounts
3. Communities support and value the education of their children
4. Continuous teacher training and capacity building
5. Adoption of an inclusive policy

During the next two years, we will raise awareness through advocacy on the right to education, especially for children between 6 and 12 years old in the 1st and 2nd cycle, because it is in this age group that almost 29% of children of school age are outside the system, and many of those who enter the system end up not staying until the end of the cycle due to various social, cultural and geographical reasons. In this respect, the beneficiaries of this approach and the strategies applied will be children of school age, children affected by certain cultural practices, namely (early marriage, early pregnancy, child labour, special children, as well as the marginalised).

To this end, we will work with parents and guardians, Ministry of Education, technical and financial partners in education and the private sector.

The first phase of the project was implemented in 2020-2021 with support from Education Out Loud of 201.824 USD.