Book Description

While co-ordination is essentially a method of getting institutions to work together, it is clearly not synonymous with togetherness. Undercurrents of suspicion and distrust between individuals and institutional actors can affect important relationships and give rise to enduring misunderstandings and perplexing challenges. Turf battles involving huge international institutions are a real life illustration of the African adage: "When elephants fight, the grass suffers." In terms of co-ordination: war-affected, displaced, disempowered and traumatized communities constitute the grass. In this monograph, the co-ordination, or lack of co-ordination, of education during both emergencies and the early reconstruction period is examined. What constitutes effective and poor co-ordination is also analyzed, with suggestions for enhancing co-ordination of education in emergency and post-conflict settings. This includes the need to recognize that co-ordinated education systems are unlikely to be achieved unless education authorities are willing to decline aid that does not help fulfill the objectives of their agreed and announced plans This monograph demonstrates why the co-ordination of humanitarian and post-conflict reconstruction activities is so difficult to accomplish in the education sector. It also suggests ways to overcome barriers to effective co-ordination. The study is divided into four parts: (1) Background to the study: Key themes and contexts; (2) Key actors and co-ordination frameworks; (3) Field co-ordination perspective; and (4) Conclusion: The significance of co-ordinating education efforts. (Contains 8 footnotes.) [The publication costs of this study have been partially covered through contributions from the UK Department for International Development.].