people and planet

6
FIGURE 6.4:
Inequities in aid to basic education persist
Total aid to basic education per primary school-age child, selected
countries, 2002–2014
100
FIGURE 6.5:
Donors prioritize levels of education that are less accessible
to the poor
Direct aid to (a) early childhood care and education and (b) postsecondary
education, 2002–2014
90
5,000
Constant 2014 US$
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Afghanistan
Liberia
Mauritania
Chad
Constant 2014 US$
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
Post-secondary
education
Early childhood
education
Source: OECD-DAC (2016).
Source: OECD-DAC (2016).
education (Figure 6.5). Most aid to post-secondary
education, moreover, largely supports students coming to
study in the donor countries. Thus, a substantial portion of it
does not even reach developing countries (UNESCO, 2015a).
POLICY COHERENCE
In the SDG era, sector-specific approaches are insufficient
to meet the cross-cutting, interdependent challenges
of sustainable development (Le Blanc, 2015). Instead,
the context is more favourable to concepts such as
‘collective impact’ (Kania and Kramer, 2011), which suggests
intentional, structural coordination of efforts to meet
broader outcomes; ‘systems thinking’ (Chapman, 2004), or
viewing the integrated whole as greater than the sum of
its parts; and ‘whole-of-government’ approaches (United
Nations, 2014), which require ministries to work together.
From a policy perspective, multisector approaches can
prevent competition for scarce resources and help use
existing resources more efficiently. Integrated service
provision can be a means of reaching the most vulnerable,
addressing their multiple needs simultaneously and
reducing the cost of service duplication (OECD, 2015d).
Since diverse perspectives are needed for improved
integration and problem solving (Hong and Page, 2004),
education planning may also benefit from a range of
expertise beyond education ministries (Jacobs, 1964). For
instance, an education ministry that aims to mitigate
gender disparity in school enrolment and attainment
would need to be aware of the non-education structural
barriers to girls’ and boys’ schooling, which require a greater
understanding of social development and the labour sector.
SDG-related development efforts require such horizontally
integrated action (Le Blanc, 2015). There is also a strong need
for vertical integration, i.e. coordination and collaboration
between levels of government, with clarity in their roles
and responsibilities (OECD, 2013a). Figure 6.1 illustrates
these horizontal and vertical relationships.
The broad SDG agenda with its multisector demands
requires good local planning linked with coherent, nationally
relevant vision and support (Antonio et al., 2014; Urama
et al., 2014). This section looks at examples of national
efforts to improve coherence, effective multisector
planning, and challenges in integrated planning.
POLICY COHERENCE IN GOVERNMENTS
Integrated planning has gained prominence in post-2015
development discussions. However, multisector planning
initiatives, especially those that focus on integrated basic
service delivery for the poor, are not new. Integrated
approaches to development have been carried out since
2016 • GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING REPORT 139