BEC Members teamed up with early childhood advocacy partners from the health, nutrition, and protection sectors to broaden our reach on Capitol Hill. BEC's member-advocates shared new research and personal perspective on the importance and effectiveness of early childhood education. They emphasized the need for funding and coordination, and requested inclusion of ECD report language in the House FY19 Appropriations Bill.
BEC members joined InterAction's advocacy day on Capitol Hill on March 13th. The Interaction community is comprised of various organizations championing differing priorities. The lobby day unified their voices behind two shared requests to Congress: 1) Adopt a final appropriation for the remainder of FY18 that provides the highest possible funding levels for humanitarian, health, and development accounts; 2) Fully fund poverty-focused international development and humanitarian assistance accounts in FY19 at no less than $59.1 billion.
Watch the discussion on "Accountability in Education: The Role of Citizens in Accelerating Learning for All." Stoner's remarks start at 13:30, BEC ECD Co-Chair Katherine Merseth directs the panel to issues of early childhood education at 1:15:19.
For 85 years, World Learning has worked to create a more peaceful and just world through education, sustainable development, and exchange programs that help people find their voices, connect with their communities, and strengthen the institutions that form the backbone of a democratic society. With this support, these emerging leaders tackle critical global issues like poverty, conflict, and inequality.
The BEC M&E Group, chaired by Hetal Thukral (STS Intl) and Jordene Hale (Chemonics) hosted their first meeting of 2018 on January 11th, at BEC. The group was pleased to welcome Elena Walls and Ben Sylla, of USAID. Topics of discussion included IRB requirements, results of the Assessment of the Quality of USAID Funded Evaluations, and new guidance on Collecting Data on Disability in Education Programming.
Excerpt from USAID's "How-To Note Collecting Data on Disability in Education Programming"
Collection of data on disability prevalence and type will enable USAID Missions and their implementing partners to design and implement disability-inclusive education programming that is responsive to context and can be evaluated effectively. As emphasized in this Note, USAID follows the United Nations (UN) definition of disability (footnote 1) as the outcome of the interaction between a person with a functional limitation (difficulties doing basic functional activities) and an unaccommodating environment resulting in the inability to fully participate in society. The Washington Group on Disability Statistics (WG) developed an approach for collecting data on disability to help standardize global data collection on disability. As of 2017, 69 countries used the WG’s approach. This Annex includes the WG data collection tool, describes necessary preparation steps for data collection, outlines strategies for data analysis, and lists various uses of the tool and the data. A list of resources associated with each step is provided at the end.
The WG’s approach to collecting data on disability is based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health’s (ICF) definition of six main domains of functioning (footnote 2), which include vision, hearing, mobility, memory/concentration, self-care, and communication. Respondents are asked whether they have trouble functioning in their environments, and to what extent. The WG Short Set of Questions on Disability (“WG Short Set”) includes a question per domain, as shown below.
BEC's 2017 Annual Report celebrates the extraordinary efforts and many accomplishments of Coalition members in 2017. Thank you, to all who contributed. We look forward to continuing our momentum in 2018!
On October 24th, 40 representatives from NGOs, the United States Agency for International Development, and the World Bank Group met to celebrate and discuss the World Development Report (WDR18): LEARNING to Realize Education’s Promise. The Basic Education Coalition (BEC) hosted the event in Washington, DC.
Dear Members of the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Subcommittee:
As members and partners of InterAction, an alliance of over 180 nongovernmental organizations working around the world, we write to thank you for your efforts to support programs that serve the world’s poor and vulnerable through Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriation bills. As you prepare your final FY18 appropriations package, we urge to you adopt the highest possible funding levels for bilateral and multilateral poverty-fighting and lifesaving programs...
November 15, 2017 (Charlottesville, VA)- The Global Leadership Forum (GLF): Promoting Gender Equality in Education convened rising leaders from more than 20 countries, who are working to ensure that women and girls have equal access to education. BEC's Bethany Johnson attended the forum as a facilitator. Participants shared their perspective on the value of U.S. support for international basic education programs in the developing world and strategies to increase impact for girls, specifically.
Banner photo: Room to Read
