Assessment of the Education Services Joint Fund
2023
UNICEF, Malawi
This assessment focused on the Education Services Joint Fund’s (ESJF) functionality as a means of funding priority areas in the education sector of Malawi. It considered the context of when the fund was established, the fund’s objectives, it’s design and processes, what the fund has achieved, and what challenges it has faced.
A mixed-methods methodology was followed in order to extract maximum information in a reliable manner by triangulating sources of information as far as possible. Key informant interviews and focus group discussions were undertaken in-country over the course of a week, with subsequent interviews carried out in the following weeks. In total, over 50 people were consulted.
This assessment did not consider the impact on the education sector itself, beyond the ESJF’s provision of inputs into the education sector. In view of a concurrent external financial audit, the analysis of the fund was kept primarily to a policy and process level. No fieldwork was done outside of the capital of Lilongwe, and no attempt was made to verify, for example, classrooms constructed or the effect of funding on pupil retention.
The final report has not yet been made publicly available.
The people behind the project
Project leader: Elizabeth Hodson
Principal Consultant and Director
Principal Consultant
