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SPONSORED FEATUREForging strategic partnershipsAfrica Network Campaign on Education for All (ANCEFA) is committed to partnershipsfor inclusive quality education in Africa, before and after 2015Participants of the third General Assembly of ANCEFA, which took place in Dakar, Senegal on 10 November 2012Africa Network Campaign on Education for All (ANCEFA) is avoluntary, non-partisan and not-for-profit network of nationalcivil society organisations in 35 countries in Africa, championingthe cause for quality education. Its secretariat is in Dakar, Senegal, butit has regional programme offices in Lome, Togo; Lusaka, Zambia; andNairobi, Kenya.ANCEFA has existed since the Dakar World Education Forum in2000 and its strategic focus areas are 1) campaigning for the financingof equitable and inclusive quality education for all; 2) ensuring nationalaccountability; 3) promoting quality teaching and learning and 4)institutional strengthening of ANCEFA.ANCEFA believes in forging strategic partnerships as central forpromoting the right to education in Africa, where 29.6 million of theworld’s 57.8 million out-of-school children live. Unfortunately, fundingto ensure more children have access to quality education is limited, withUNESCO reporting the first ever decline in aid to basic education fromUS$6.2 billion in 2010 to US$5.8 billion in 2011. These challenges requirestrong partnerships to address.ANCEFA’s commitment to partnership has been demonstrated in thepast ten years in the network’s advocacy for the right to quality inclusiveeducation in Africa. The network has managed to maintain partnershipswith at least 15 International institutions, including the African Union,UNESCO and Global Campaign for Education. In 2013, ANCEFA signeda landmark five-year Memorandum of Understanding with the AfricanUnion Commission to promote education on the continent. ANCEFA hasworked with UNESCO in mobilising participation of NGOs in regional andinternational policy forums such as the Global Education Meetings and theEFA Big Push initiative in African countries.Fruits of such partnership have included: enhanced capacity of civilsociety in policy analysis, monitoring and advocacy; increased financialresources for education; and enhanced attention towards access toeducation, particularly for the marginalised and vulnerable, such aschildren with special needs, girls and orphans. In many countries, throughbudget tracking and community monitoring of service delivery, there isenhanced governance and accountability in the education sector.Looking ahead, particularly to the period after 2015, ANCEFA willseek to maintain existing partnerships and forge new partnerships withvarious cooperating partners. This recognises that the post-2015 demandfor pro-poor policy and effective implementation will require joint strategicplanning, joint capacity building interventions and evidence-basedadvocacy to bring real change in the lives of people.As such, ANCEFA would like to call upon various institutions atnational, regional, international and global levels to contact and work withANCEFA in the noble cause of promoting the right to inclusive qualityeducation in Africa before and after 2015.ANCEFA ContactsThe Regional Coordinator, ANCEFA Secretariat, AmitiéIII n°4566 B, BP# 3007, Dakar Yoff, Senegal.Telephone(s): +221 33 824 22 44; +260 9 775 11250.Email(s): ancefa@orange.sn; lnsapato@gmail.comWebsite: www.ancefa.org