Benin's education system is confronted with a deterioration in the quality of education, gender disparities and vulnerability to shocks, particularly health shocks. The weak accountability of sectoral policies and their implementation coupled with the weak role played by Civil Society Organisations in education policy dialogue and processes explains this problem.

The present project addresses this problem of "low citizen participation in education policy monitoring and dialogue". Its objective is to contribute to improving the transparency and accountability of education policies by strengthening the role of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the monitoring and dialogue processes, education policy process and dialogue at all levels.

Specifically the project will:

• Strengthen the capacity of CSOs within the observatory to monitor the implementation of education policies and finances,
• engage CSOs gathered within the observatory in collecting strategic data on the quality of education and use it to make suggestions for relevant and concrete policy reforms;
• Strengthen the participation of CSOs in education policy dialogue at all levels to increase accountability, transparency and responsibility. The project will strengthen the Benin Education Observatory (a grouping of CSOs) whose mission is to ensure strategic monitoring of the national education system and to make suggestions for reform. The intervention will energise the observatory by setting up its local regional branches.

The community CSOs currently excluded from the observatory will thus be mobilised to integrate its local and regional members according to their level of intervention to participate in the strategic monitoring of education.

By supporting the observatory, the project will strengthen and engage 77 parents' associations, 77 associations of mothers of pupils, 77 youth and children's forums/associations, 3 trade union federations, 77 Citizen Participation Cells, 77 associations of people living with disabilities, and 6 NGOs in the collection of strategic data on the quality of education, gender equity, and the vulnerability of the education system to climatic and health shocks, notably the eoronavirus pandemic.

These councils will be supported to interpret the data collected and use it to formulate claims and suggestions for relevant reforms that they will periodically address to policy makers (the Ministries of Education, the National Education Council (CNE), the Economic and Social Council (CES) and the Local Education Groups (GLE) within the framework of policy dialogues.

The latter will thus be more inclusive and participatory, allowing citizens to to make concrete proposals and ensure their effective implementation. This will enable policy makers to engage in relevant and informed evidence-based policy measures and reforms. This will improve the quality of education, reduce gender disparities in education and improve the resilience of the national education system to climate and health shocks, in particular the Coronavirus pandemic.