INEE Strategic Framework 2018-23 Review and Recommendations Summary

The INEE Strategic Framework gives shape and direction to INEE’s work and results. Importantly, it is a framework for the whole network – both formal structures like the Steering Group and Secretariat as well as the collective action of INEE’s members as a whole. As INEE prepares to conclude its current Strategic Framework period (2018-23) and looks toward the next, a crucial first step has been to pause, reflect, and assess our success – and gaps – over the past six years. To this end, in April 2023, INEE commissioned a review to ask members and partners for their honest assessment of where INEE succeeded since 2018 and where growth remains. This was also an indispensable opportunity to invite inputs and contributions from members about what they wanted to include and prioritize in our next strategic period beginning in 2024.

Four questions guided this review:

• How successful was INEE in achieving the ambitions set out in the current INEE Strategic Framework, taking into consideration the different roles and responsibilities of the Steering Group, Secretariat, network spaces, and the overall network?
• How fit-for-purpose has the current INEE Strategic Framework proven to be for achieving the ambitions it set out and how fit-for-purpose does the Strategic Framework’s overall structure remain as a basis for the next INEE Strategic Framework, particularly given new global EiE policy frameworks, structures (including the global EiE architecture), and contexts?
• How well was the “collective action for collective EiE impact” approach presented in the current Strategic Framework? 
• What should be the ongoing and future priorities for INEE in the coming years, based on members’ and other constituents’ feedback as well as changes in the EiE ecosystem?      

To answer these questions, INEE undertook a document review, conducted eleven key informant interviews, organized and facilitated nine focus group discussions in all five INEE languages, and circulated and promoted a full member survey in all languages through diverse communication platforms. This approach brought a substantial number of individual stakeholders’ voices into the conversation. It also proved critical to ensuring voices from across INEE’s full diverse membership were heard equitably. All told, approximately 650 members added their voices to this conversation.

The first main point that members made in this process was the tremendous amount of change in the global EiE landscape that occurred during this strategic period. The COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and greater social and political unrest in all regions, all contributed to record numbers of learners having their education interrupted or otherwise impacted by crisis. This growing need was complicated by shrinking resources that needed to be stretched to cover new needs in addition to more people. This created increased competition and the need to better anticipate and plan.

These challenges were balanced, though, with positive developments. The Transforming Education Summit in 2022 led to new global commitments to action to address the global crisis in education. This new commitment brought renewed focus on EiE which is now being operationalized with a focus on education access and learning outcomes, protecting and improving external financing, working together in the spirit of international cooperation, and considering diverse crisis-affected contexts.

Additionally, new global partners emerged to fill important needs. The Initiative for Strengthening Education in Emergencies Coordination (ISEEC) is a partnership launched by INEE, the Global Education Cluster, and UNHCR in 2020, with UNESCO joining in 2023. It aims to promote coherent, joined-up education sector coordination that improves education outcomes for crisis-affected children and youth through existing organizational platforms. The Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies (EiE Hub) was launched in 2021 to promote policy dialogue, multi-stakeholder synergies, and partnerships, as well as inspire political and financial commitments to ensure the delivery and continuity of safe, quality education to crisis-affected and displaced children and youth. These changes and new partners will have significant implications for INEE’s next strategic framework.

How successful was INEE in achieving the ambitions set out in the current INEE Strategic Framework?
Unsurprisingly, in light of such substantial shifts, INEE members reported that, while INEE mostly successful in pursuing its four Strategic Priorities, more work remained to be done in these areas. Among the reasons for such a conclusion were insufficient resources to fully operationalize these efforts and the need for a larger INEE footprint at the national and local levels. Consequently, members affirmed the continued relevance of all current Strategic Priorities but advised that INEE be more visible in its efforts and root them more firmly in national contexts to maximize their efficacy.

How fit-for-purpose has the current INEE Strategic Framework proven to be for achieving the ambitions it set out?
INEE members generally saw room for improvement when it came to the next strategic framework. They specifically noted that the next strategic framework needs to bring more clarity about what INEE does and does not do. They also expressed the need to more prominently feature the INEE Minimum Standards and link to other sectors and areas of work. Many also expressed the desire to focus more on INEE’s impact and added value to the EiE sector to better make the case for INEE to be supported as an essential EiE actor at all levels. Members also requested that the next strategic framework be more widely circulated and more regularly referenced since it is intended to be the strategy for the network as a whole

How well was the “collective action for collective EiE impact” approach presented?
The “collective action for collective EiE impact” approach underlies all the work that INEE does. But this approach is never clearly articulated and needs to be better defined for members. While the definition seemed murky to many members, the idea was widely seen as INEE’s ethos: bringing stakeholders together for shared goals and shared impact. Being more explicit about collective action will be essential in the next strategic framework.

What should be the ongoing and future priorities for INEE in the coming years?
Members had many ideas in response to this question, but some topics did stand out. For instance, members very much valued INEE as a platform for making connections and fostering collaboration. INEE was also seen as a thought leader and the technical arm of the global EiE architecture, a role that members were eager to see INEE maintain and expand. This is INEE’s niche and members strongly wanted to see INEE embrace that role more fully. The INEE Minimum Standards also feature prominently as the foundation of INEE’s work as well as EiE interventions everywhere. Members sought greater emphasis on the INEE Minimum Standards in the next strategic framework. Other areas that came up frequently included climate, the humanitarian-development-peacebuilding nexus, preparedness and anticipatory action, equity and addressing systemic barriers to meaningful and inclusive participation in EiE decision-making, and data and evidence.

Review Recommendations
INEE independent review analyzed all contributions from the 650 respondents and made five core recommendations:

• Articulate INEE’s role in the global EiE architecture and in the broader EiE landscape more clearly, including recognizing the complementarity with other EiE actors
• Expand INEE’s capacity sharing activities, with a renewed focus on educators and other first responders during crisis
• Communicate INEE’s impact more fully and clearly
• Embrace more deliberately and intentionally the power of INEE’s diversity through more equitable member engagement, purposeful amplification and inclusion of Global South members’ voices and priorities, and practical localization of INEE initiatives
• Define more clearly INEE’s “Collective Action for Collective Impact” approach and members’ roles in it

These recommendations along with the underlying inputs that led to them will provide the basis for INEE’s next Strategic Framework for 2024-30.