The intervention seeks to strengthen the capacity of the Education Coalition in Eswatini in influencing education policy dialogue, policy formulation, monitoring implementation and review so as to promote inclusive and equitable education financing.

Through the intervention the Swaziland Network Campaign for Education for All (SWANCEFA) members, grassroot parents, community leaders and education stakeholders, will be strengthened to conduct education budget tracking, engage in education policy dialogue and demand for equitable budget spending to promote quality, inclusive and relevant education for all especially the marginalized such as girls, children at foundationaql stage and people with disability.

The proposed initiative is a buildup on the lessons learnt from the Education Out Loud (EOL 1) programme. The project will contribute towards attainment of national education goals, sustainable development goal 4 and 5 and GPE strategic objectives through promoting active participation of civil society organizations including grassroots organizations in education policy dialogue, media advocacy, parliamentary engagement and citizen engagement.

The intervention will also support research to build evidence for effective advocacy on adequate and equitable spending on education, promotion of gender and girls' education and improved literacy and math competencies in the lower grades. The initiative will also advocate for increased access to public and free Early Childhood Care Development Education( ECCDE).

The initiative will strengthen civil society organizations in the country and their capacity to participate in GPE country processes including Local Education Groups, Joint Sector Reviews and Joint Monitoring and domestic financing commitments made during the GPE replenishment conference, 2021.

With these interventions, the project will seek to address education challenges including low access to quality inclusive education especially for the marginalized, low access to ECCDE due to privatization of this level of education in the country, low access to secondary education due to poor education financing, low transition to Secondary education due to high repetition and drop out at primary level and high pregnancy rates.

The project will target girls in rural and urban settings, children at foundation stage, children with disability and children from disadavantaged backgrounds.

Project goal: Access to quality inclusive education for all especially the marginalized (learners from poor backgrounds, girls, children at foundational stage and children with disabilities) in Eswatini Project

Objectives:

1. To strengthen the capacity of the national education coalition for self sustainability and effective participation in influencing education sector plans and policies by December 2023 Objective
2. To advocate for adequate and equitable education fiinancing and spending to improve quality and accessibity of education for marginalized people in Eswatini during and post COVID 19 by December 2023 Objective
3. To coordinate community and civil society involvement in education sector planning, implementation and monitoring in order to improve access and quality of education for marginalized people by December 2021.

The first phase of the project was implemented in 2020-2021 with support from Education Out Loud of 244.430 USD.