Education Out Loud

16/06/2026

We are proud to share Ann's story and celebrate the vital work of our partners in Kenya: Rescue Empowerment Network and Elimu Yetu Coalition.

"My story begins like this. I was nine years old, in grade 4. My father decided it was time for me to be circumcised and married off. He had found a very old man. But my mother was against it. She did not want my life to be like hers..."

Ann is 19 years old and dreams of becoming a lawyer, so she can spe...

09/06/2026

It's official !!!!🎉 Oxfam Denmark continues as grant agent for a second phase of Education Out Loud. 💚 We could not be more pleased.💚

Since 2019, has had the privilege of serving as grant agent for Education Out Loud — today we can share the news we've been waiting to tell: we're continuing. On 4 June, the Global Partnership for Education Board invited Oxfam Denmark to develop a programme proposal as grant agent for a new phase of Education Out Loud.

It is an honour to be entrusted with this role again, and a genuine pleasure to know that our work alongside amazing civil society organisations will go on and that we will continue being able to support them in their work of improving education systems all over the world.

The new phase begins in January 2027, with an initial allocation of USD 45 million.

Read more here 👇
https://www.globalpartnership.org/news/gpe-renews-commitment-civil-society-appointment-oxfam-denmark

01/06/2026

We are excited to share new research by Accountability Research Center (ARC) that explores how different civil society actors, whether driven by a rights-based focus or by the demand for education quality, can strengthen their advocacy by entering into strategic alliances.

Using the case of Honduras, the working paper examines the role of civil society organisations in education systems.
Have a read and let us know what you think. 👇

𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫: 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?

In their new Working Paper, Felipe Hevia and Diego Prado Tuma examine the case of Honduras, looking at the role of CSOs in education systems with limited state capacity.

They spotlight the possibilities of a strategic alliance between between organizations that defend the right to education and organizations that focus on the quality of education.

They argue that a such an alliance would allow for a more comprehensive articulation of demands for quality and equity in education, generating synergies around the strengthening of public education systems.

English: https://bit.ly/3S6BC3j
Spanish: https://bit.ly/4dQpXwO

Thanks to Education Out Loud Global Partnership for Education Foro Dakar Honduras

29/05/2026

The grass around the battered car stands tall, as if confident that the broken window and flat tires will prevent it from paving paths through the stalks anytime soon.
“I am afraid the last mission broke it for good,” says Susan Kasero, her hand resting on the scarred hood.

Susan Kasero is the founder and CEO of Osiligi Rescue Empowerment Network, which is a civil society organisation and a rescue center for girls in danger of circumcision or forced marriage in Narok. Not too seldom, her work entails nightly drives on rough roads to reach and rescue a girl in distress.
“We go to the community, we pick the girl, and we bring her here. We do it often and many times we get to save the girl,” says Susan Kasero. But sometimes they don’t, because even when they have a policeman with them, the community will often oppose Susan and her colleagues taking the girl with them. “That’s how the car got the bruises and the broken glass,” says Susan Kasero.

She gestures in frustration, making all the pearl embroidery on her beautiful Maasai attire clink. She mourns every case where she has not been able to help – where a young girl has gone through FGM or has been married off against her will. She saw it happening to her own sister when they were very young. She used to see it happening to her classmates in secondary school, who disappeared one by one until they were only three girls sitting for exams.

“There is still this idea in this and other communities that girls don’t need education. That their path is to get the cut and marry very young. I see how much pain and harm that leads to, and therefore I started Osiligi Rescue Empowerment Network,” says Susan Kasero.

Osiligi means hope, and the organisation is working as part of the national education coalition, Elimu Yetu, supported by Education Out Loud, to eliminate the harmful practices that deprive girls of their rights to safety, dignity, and education. The base for the work is the compound with the beat-up car. It is a plot of land surrounded by a high brick wall and with locks on the solid gate. One side is the wooden barrack with a total of 15 bunk beds and small chests to store personal belongings. Another is a larger brick building with a common room for eating and socialising, two rooms where the girls learn sewing, braiding, and beadwork, and an office from where Susan reaches out to all levels of society to advocate for change.

“We can save the girls from an acute danger, and we can offer them six months of skills training, healing, and empowerment. But eventually they must go back to society, so I work hard to ensure that that society is changing,” Susan Kasero says....

👉 Read the full story — including interviews with two girls who got a second chance:
https://educationoutloud.org/impact/on-the-rough-roads-to-rescue/

26/05/2026

How do You Make Your Seat at the Table Count 🤔❓

We asked Gebremedhin, independent learning and evaluation consultant, to find out — and what she found might surprise you. Getting into the room turns out to be the easy part.

While access to various policy forums has expanded for many of the National Education Coalition supported by Education Out Loud, participation alone does not determine influence; what matters is how participation is prepared, enacted, and enabled within specific institutional and political contexts.

“Coalitions are increasingly recognised as legitimate actors in education policy dialogue. While gaining access to policy forums has been an important and celebrated milestone for Education Out Loud, presence alone does not guarantee influence,” says Abrehet Gebremedhin, who has carried out a study drawing together experiences and insights from national education coalitions and stakeholders who interact with NECs at a country level on what enables meaningful participation.

Find the Five trends in NECs’ experiences of meaningful participation
👉 https://educationoutloud.org/grantees/how-to-make-your-seat-at-the-table-count/

05/05/2026

There are over 1 million displaced children in Burkina Faso - many of them without access to education.

Djélika was one of them.

Now, thanks to support from Education Out Loud, GPE's fund for advocacy and social accountability, civil society organizations are helping children like Djélika get back to class.

By elevating local voices, civil society is turning individual struggles into collective, national change that multiplies possibilities.

29/04/2026

What does social accountability actually look like in practice? 👀

Zoë Lawson from Asia Training & Consultancy is a learning partner to Education Out Loud and has explored how education advocates across Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Vietnam, and the Philippines are turning social accountability into real, on-the-ground action.

The result? 🔑 Six practical strategies that show how communities, coalitions, and civil society are holding systems accountable and driving change in education.

👉 Find a summary below — or dive deeper here: https://educationoutloud.org/knowledge/what-does-social-accountability-look-like-in-practice/

1. Start by Listening
Effective accountability begins by understanding people’s real experiences rather than assuming what communities need. By creating space for students, teachers, and communities to clearly express what is working — and what is not.

2. Empower Local Actors to Lead
Social accountability works when local actors themselves drive the process. MACDI Vietnam has for example developed practical tools to support this leadership, including a handbook and step-by-step guidance that enable community groups to collect data, providing constructive feedback to authorities, and advocate improvements with confidence.

3. Support Youth-Led Social Accountability
In the Philippines, the Centre for Youth Advocacy and Networking (CYAN) focuses on ensuring young people are not only participants but leaders.

4. Use Credible Evidence to Engage Government
Institute of Social and Policy Sciences (I-SAPS) Pakistan highlighted the importance of grounding advocacy in evidence that governments recognise as legitimate. I-SAPS' approach prioritises government-owned datasets; education management information systems, official budgets, and administrative records, because authorities are more responsive when discussions rely on recognised data, rather than data gathered independently by civil society organisations.

5. Ensure Inclusion from the Start
IID Bangladesh stressed that accountability fails when participation excludes those most affected. Their work intentionally centres women, children, ethnic minorities, gender minorities, and persons with disabilities by creating safe and accessible spaces for participation and investing in confidence-building so marginalised groups can speak openly.

6. Turn Complaints into Dialogue
Across all experiences, one shared insight emerged: social accountability works best when it creates constructive engagement rather than conflict.

22/04/2026

Have a look! Our colleagues recently travelled to Burkina Faso to see how education coalitions are advocating for the rights of displaced children. They returned with this unforgettable story.
💚 https://youtu.be/jvKP01u8LJE💚

17/04/2026

So proud to support the work of civil society in Burkina Faso!😊
https://educationoutloud.org/impact/burkina-faso-civil-society-helps-displaced-children-enroll-in-schools/
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In Burkina Faso, education is being taken from millions of children as the security crisis continues to force families from their homes and communities in search of safety. But across the country, civil society is working to change this. With support from Education Out Loud, the national education coalition is making a tireless effort – from community outreach to national advocacy – to ensure that children affected by displacement can return to school. One of those children is 11-year-old Djélika, pictured above.

“I was very happy to learn that I would be going back to school.
I want to do everything I can to work hard and not disappoint
those who have helped me.”

Thanks to the national education coalition and local civil society, Djélika is back in the classroom, rebuilding her hopes for the future. Our colleagues from Trans-Liu met Djélika and civil society activist Marie Yonli Zomodo on the outskirts of Ouagadougou and captured their story.

You can read the article here https://educationoutloud.org/impact/burkina-faso-civil-society-helps-displaced-children-enroll-in-schools/

Photo: Trans.Liu/GPE

13/04/2026

One of the most inspiring aspects of our work at Education Out Loud is seeing how our partners adapt when circumstances become difficult. At a time of uncertainty and hardship for many across the MENA region, we recognise the challenges our partners face and are especially inspired by how they are finding new ways to keep advocacy alive.

We wanted to share some of what we’re learning from them. Read the article on our website 👉 https://educationoutloud.org/impact/adapting-advocacy-through-emergencies/ or find highlights below 👇

📝Recently, education coalitions from the Middle East and North Africa met as part of the Education Out Loud learning collaborative on Education in Emergencies to reflect on how they are advocating for education in emergency settings.

They identified four core advocacy approaches that capture how coalitions are adapting their work in emergencies.

✨Embracing Flexibility through Adaptive Management
In emergency contexts where political, security, and economic conditions shift rapidly, advocacy strategies have to remain flexible. This means shifting resources, revising advocacy targets, or changing strategies entirely without losing sight of long-term goals.

✨Leveraging Media and Strategic Communication
In a context of shrinking civic spaces, targeted communication in advocacy is critical in ensuring that all stakeholders are aligned while managing political and operational risk. Coalitions in MENA are therefore turning to alternative media advocacy and selected communication spaces to amplify voices.

✨Advancing Gender Equality Contextually
While gender equality remains central to advocacy, education advocates recognise that approaches should reflect local sensitivities and constraints. Coalitions often adapt their strategies by working through community networks, documenting gender-related barriers discreetly, or supporting female educators and local leaders to advocate for change within their communities.

✨Investing in Evidence and Storytelling
In crisis contexts, data alone is often insufficient to influence policy. Combining evidence with lived experiences enables advocates to humanise education challenges, expose inequities, and strengthen the credibility of advocacy initiatives.