KIX EMAP and NORRAG at the 6th GPE KIX Global Symposium
The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) held the 6th Annual Global Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE KIX) Symposium online on 9-10 December. Both days featured panel discussions, with NORRAG and the KIX EMAP Hub represented on the first day by Arushi Terway, Education Finance Lead, NORRAG, and Rasha Sharaf, KIX EMAP Hub Knowledge Lead for South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
The first session of Day 1, “Innovative Financing Models – Evidence for Sustainable Pathways”, was moderated by Raphaelle Martinez, Lead Economist for Sustainable Finance at GPE. The panellists were Arushi Terway, Education Finance Lead, NORRAG; Jennifer Swift-Morgan, Director, Foundational Learning, Prevail Fund; Lydia Baker, Principal Climate Change and Education Advisor at Save the Children; and Polycarp Otieno, Education Specialist, UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office.
In this panel, speakers explored how evidence influences the various stages of the financing journey, from programmatic spending to resource mobilisation, with a focus on efficiency, equity, and long-term sustainability. Arushi presented an overview of innovative financing in education, explaining that it involves creative structures and arrangements to channel funds from willing sources to sectors in need. The goal is twofold: to raise additional resources from existing and new funding streams and to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of available funds to achieve the intended results. She stressed the need for more contextual evidence to assess sustainability and highlighted the importance of public sector ownership and domestic funding sources.
The second session of Day 1, “Guiding Resource Allocation with Evidence – Lessons from GPE KIX”, was moderated by Raúl Chacón, Director of the KIX LAC Hub at SUMMA. This panel featured speakers representing all four GPE KIX Regional Hubs. Rasha Sharaf, KIX EMAP Hub Knowledge Lead for South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa was joined by fellow panellists Issa Bacharou, Ministry of Education and KIX Focal Point of the national delegation of Niger, Lucy Magagula, Deputy Director for Inclusive Education in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Malawi; and Germain Anthony, Senior Technical Specialist, OECS Commission.
The panel discussion focused on how KIX-generated evidence is actively shaping policy reform and resource allocation across diverse country contexts. Rasha represented the KIX EMAP Hub by speaking to a case in Sri Lanka, in which the KIX EMAP Learning Cycle 7 on “Secondary Teacher Workforce Management” helped the Ministry of Education identify a need to strengthen planning skills. She explained that Learning Cycle 7 addressed teacher distribution by analysing data revealing rural shortages and urban surpluses. The participation of the Ministry of Education staff in this Learning Cycle supported the identification of a skill gap in teacher workforce management that was then addressed through a GPE System Capacity Grant.
This news item is based on a synopsis of the 6th GPE KIX Global Symposium by GPE KIX. Read the complete highlights and access recordings for Day 1: Leveraging Evidence in Education Financing and Day 2: Turning Evidence into Action.