Alice P. Albright Chief Executive Officer GPE Secretariat

OFFICE LOCATION 1850 K Street NW, Suite 625

Washington DC, 20006 USA

MAILING ADDRESS 1818 H Street NW, IS 6-600 Washington DC, 20433 USA

August 26, 2020

H.E. Dr. Saad Ali Shire Minister of Finance Development Ministry of Finance Development REPUBLIC OF

H.E. Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Dirie Minister of Education and Science Ministry of Education and Science Hargeisa REPUBLIC OF SOMALILAND

Approval of COVID-19 Accelerated Funding to Support Somaliland’s Education Sector

Excellencies,

On behalf of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), I am pleased to inform you that with the delegated authority from the GPE Board of Directors, I have approved Somaliland’s application for a COVID-19 accelerated funding request in the amount of US$ 2.2 million. I have also approved a 7% agency fees for the grant agent, Save the Children USA, in the amount of US$ 154,000.

The grant has a start date of September 1st, 2020 and an end date of August 31st, 2021. The full decision language of this approval can be found in the annex to this letter.

Please note that during the implementation period, the GPE Secretariat will require the Grant Agent to fill out quarterly survey which will request core data on program implementation. At the end of the implementation period, the Grant Agent is expected to submit a completion report to the GPE Secretariat. Detailed information on the reporting requirement is available in the Guidelines for COVID-19 Accelerated Funding on GPE website.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact Mr. Morten Sigsgaard, Country Lead for Somaliland at [email protected].

H.E. Dr.Shire, H.E. Mr.Dirie 2 August 26, 2020

We look forward to working with you closely to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education of Somaliland’s children.

Sincerely,

Alice P. Albright Chief Executive Officer Global Partnership for Education

www.globalpartnership.org

H.E. Dr.Shire, H.E. Mr.Dirie 3 August 26, 2020

cc:

Members of the Education Sector Committee, Hargeisa, Somaliland Members of the Education Donors Group, Nairobi Mr. Abokor Ahmed M., Director General, Ministry of Education and Science Mr. Amiin Mohamed, DCP Focal Point, Ministry of Education and Science Mr. Ismail Osman Ali, Education Sector Coordinator, Ministry of Education and Science Mr. Mohamed Sabul, Program Manager- Education & Education Systems, Delegation of the European Union to Somalia Mr. Mukhtar Muhammed, Area Representative, Save the Children Mr. Mohamoud Yusuf, Education Program Manager, Save the Children Mr. Abdinasir Sahal, Education Consortium Manager, Save the Children Mr. Mengistu Edo Koricha, Head of Education, Save the Children Mr. Mohamud Mohammed Hassan, Country Director, Save the Children Ms. Joyce LeMelle, DECP, Director Proposal Development, Save the Children Mr. Abdifatah Mohamed, ESC coordinator Ms. Jo Bourne, Chief Technical Officer, GPE Secretariat Mr. Fazle Rabbani, Regional Manager, GPE Secretariat Mr. Morten Sigsgaard, Country Lead for Somaliland, GPE Secretariat

H.E. Dr.Shire, H.E. Mr.Dirie 4 August 26, 2020

Annex – DECISION LANGUAGE

In line with the delegated authority granted by the Board of Directors, the GPE CEO approves the COVID- 19 accelerated funding request for Somaliland in the amount of US$2.2 million plus an additional US$154,000 in agency fees to Save the Children USA as Grant Agent. The grant has a start date of September 1, 2020 and an end date of August 31, 2021.

The GPE CEO recognized with appreciation the leadership and commitment of the in preparing a response plan and grant proposal that will mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the education sector as well as support the recovery of the education system from the crisis.

Recognizing the GPE Board’s intent to proceed with the COVID-19 funding on a timeline which acknowledges the COVID-19 emergency, the Government and Grant Agent are asked to move forward with implementation immediately while addressing the following points and reporting back to the Secretariat within 3 weeks of grant approval:

Request for Report-Back 1. The Grant Agent is requested to provide a revised program document (including results framework, budget and implementation plan), following consultation with the LEG and agreement by the Government. This revised program document must address the requirements noted below. Upon receipt of the revised program document, the Secretariat will verify compliance with each of the requirements below, but there will be no additional grant approval issued, nor further re-assessment of the program.

2. GPE recognizes the value of piloting new approaches to support improved learning for children in remote, rural areas. To that end, we appreciate the inclusion of the pilot to assess the feasibility of offline tablet-based learning solutions for children in remote, rural areas. However, the proposed size of the pilot (equal to 4,000 tablets, and budgeted at US$ 400,000) is considered high, when considered against the intent of the COVID-AF window (to support immediate response and recovery to the sector), the limited funding available and the purpose of the pilot (to test the feasibility of the approach). The GPE CEO approves inclusion of the pilot, but at a reduced allocation and with the following changes: a. A reduction on the budget allocated to the activity by 50%, equal to reduction in the number of tablets procured to 2,000, which seems sufficient to undertake the pilot; b. A commitment and budget to ensure the robust evaluation of the pilot; c. An elaboration on the risks around the devices and safeguards that will be put in place to protect the investment; and d. Reallocation of remaining budget for tablets to already approved activities which have a clear and immediate impact on the continuation and safeguarding of education for vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 crisis.

H.E. Dr. Shire, H.E. Mr. Dirie 5 August 26, 2020

3. Clarify the criteria to be used to identify and target beneficiaries of the following activities: scholarships, radio sets, tablets, teacher incentives, WASH and handwashing facilities - to ensure the prioritization of vulnerable children, including girls.

4. Grant agent is requested to confirm that at least 50% of the 500 scholarships will be targeted towards girls. In addition, please clarify what specific activities will be undertaken by this grant or other partners in the sector to ensure barriers to girls’ learning are alleviated and they are able to return to school.

5. Disaggregate all the core indicators by gender as per GPE’s M&E guidance for COVID-19 Accelerated Funding window. Include the number and percentages of beneficiary population reached for all core indicators; and include the required core indicators on accelerated learning, awareness campaigns from GPE’s M&E guidance.

6. Clearly map roles and responsibilities to each activity in the implementation plan.

7. As delivery involves implementing partners, GA is requested to include SC’s arrangements to mitigate associated fiduciary risks (conflicts of interest, oversight, due diligence, spot checks, etc.).

8. Since the program proposes providing direct support to community schools, GA is requested to elaborate on the regulation and operation of community schools in Somaliland, specifically noting whether these schools are operated as not-for-profit (or for-profit) entities and whether the government has a regulatory framework in place for community schools. Please note that GPE financing may not be used to support for-profit providers of core education services. If GPE financing supports not-for-profit non-state providers of education, such as community schools, a regulatory framework should be in place, or under development. If government and partners recognize limitations in the regulatory framework they are urged to include this concern as a part of sector dialogue.

The Secretariat also raises the following point of observation, which is a recommendation rather than a requirement:

Observation 1. Given the urgency of the crisis, grant implementation to commence on schedule and the Grant Agent to submit a cash transfer request within two weeks of approval to facilitate the timely release of funds in support of program implementation.

Reporting Please note that during the implementation period, the GPE Secretariat will require the Grant Agent to fill out a quarterly survey which will request core data on program implementation. At the end of the implementation period, the Grant Agent is expected to submit a completion report to the GPE Secretariat. Detailed information on the reporting requirement is available in the Guidelines for COVID-19 Accelerated Funding on GPE website.

Reprogramming

H.E. Dr. Shire, H.E. Mr. Dirie 6 August 26, 2020

The Government and the Grant Agent may reprogram this grant, in consultation with the Local Education Group (i.e. the Education Sector Committee in Hargeisa and the Education Donors’ Group in Nairobi) and the Education Cluster, for an amount not to exceed 25% of the allocation without prior Secretariat approval - but must disclose such cases to the Secretariat. For an amount of 25% or more, as well as for any extension, advance approval from the Secretariat must be sought. The process for advance approval will be that of non-minor revisions of ESPIG which can be found here: https://www.globalpartnership.org/content/policy-education-sector-program-implementation-grants