INEE Charlevoix Funding Dashboard: Strengthening accountability for commitments to girls’ education

In June 2018, G7 Leaders came together to adopt the Charlevoix Declaration on Quality Education for Girls, Adolescent Girls and Women in Developing Countries. The Charlevoix Declaration on Quality Education served as a milestone in bringing global attention and a historic level of investment in girls’ and women’s education and training in contexts of conflict and crisis. During the 44th G7 Summit, Canada, the European Union, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the World Bank together pledged CAN$3.8 billion - or US$3.1 billion - in support of the Charlevoix commitments. At the UN General Assembly later that year, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Qatar together pledged a further CAN$527 million, or US$426 million. Germany pledged an additional EUR 70.3 million in 2019, bringing the total pledges to CAN$4.4 billion or nearly US$3.6 billion. But to what extent have these pledges been operationalized, and what has been achieved as a result of these commitments? 

To answer this question, the INEE Reference Group on Girls’ Education in Emergencies, with the support of Global Affairs Canada, has developed the Charlevoix Funding Dashboard. The dashboard is a culmination of months of collective efforts by INEE, donors, funding partners, and implementers, all working together to collect and share data on how the historic Charlevoix commitments have been realized. 

The dashboard was launched this month on April 5th in a virtual event hosted by INEE. The launch featured an overview of the context, purpose, development, and use of the Charlevoix Funding Dashboard as well as a high-level panel discussion on trends in funding for girls’ education in emergencies 

Celebrating progress

According to the Charlevoix Funding Dashboard, by December 2020 all Charlevoix donors had either met, or were on the track to meet their Charlevoix pledges. Between June 2018 and December 2020, Charlevoix donors collectively disbursed over US$4.02 billion towards their Charlevoix pledges, going above and beyond their originally pledged amounts. 

These funds have supported over 500+ projects through 320+ implementing partners in 100+ countries across the globe. 

“There’s an incredible number of projects that have been supported throughout this [initiative]. We are hoping that we can look both at those results and also looking at this as a tool for how we can continue to hold each other accountable and how we can make sure we are accountable again to those that we are really aiming to serve” - Louise Holt, Director General, Social Development, Global Affairs Canada

Building the evidence base

Charlevoix Funding Dashboard visualizes data on funding pledged and disbursed by donors in support of the Charlevoix Declaration on Quality Education and shows how funding has flowed from donors and funding partners to regions, countries, and implementing partners. It helps build a picture of which populations and education types are being funded and which may need additional support.  These data are essential not only to measure and showcase progress, but also to identify gaps in education responses, avoid duplication, and provide opportunities for coherence. 

“Resource tracking is very critical; you cannot manage what you cannot measure. This funding dashboard will go a long way in ensuring crucial effective coordination among stakeholders.”  - Angela Machonesa, Head of Regional Influencing and Strategic Communications, Plan International

“Data and evidence are not only important for funding and policy, they also have value in creating a shared understanding of the issues at hand. And in my role as Ambassador for women’s rights and gender equality, this evidence is of huge value in strengthening my case on why we need to invest in women and girls, and why we need to take action now when it comes to them” - Pascalle Grotenhuis, Ambassador for Gender Equality & Women’s Rights, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Maintaining momentum on girls’ education

The Charlevoix Funding Dashboard shows that there is much to celebrate on the realization of the G7 Charlevoix pledges. However, amidst multiple emerging and protracted crises, much work still remains to be done to ensure that all girls have access to quality, safe, and inclusive education. This will require continued support, investments, and engagement of donors, governments, civil society organizations, and humanitarian and development stakeholders in girls’ education.  

“We have seen that donors are already struggling to maintain their current levels of assistance, and FCV [fragile, conflict and violence affected] countries will be particularly affected as a major chunk of their education funding is dependent on foreign aid. This comes at a time when the need will even be greater given that education budgets, particularly in low and lower middle income countries are not adjusting proportionately to the challenges brought by COVID” - Raja Bentaouet Kattan, Global Lead for Gender, World Bank

“We’ve had so many crises recently… and the crises are becoming more frequent and we’re seeing a larger and larger number of children displaced… this is a problem that is not going away, and there is an opportunity in there to find ways to do better than perhaps we have done, although we have made great strides” -  Chris Berry, Senior Education Advisor, FCDO

What’s Next 

In addition to providing transparency in commitments made in support of the Charlevoix Declaration on Quality Education, INEE hopes that the Charlevoix Funding Dashboard will support future decision making on programming and funding commitments towards girls’ education. We hope that this dashboard can be a blueprint for future reporting and accountability mechanisms for commitments to education, particularly for girls’ education in conflict and crisis-affected settings. 

We welcome INEE members to engage with the dashboard. Use the resources below to learn more: 

• Access the Dashboard
• Watch the launch webinar recording
• Watch the tutorial on how to navigate the dashboard
• Hear what the EiE community has to say about the dashboard

If you have any questions about the dashboard, please reach out to [email protected].