The NGOs sole reservation concerned private funding which, they believed, risked undermining the responsibility of the state to provide EFA for its citizens. Private financing was, in their view, best used to build bridges and fill in gaps. He recalled that the Dakar Framework for Action insisted on the involvement of civil society. Participants also requested that governments be more transparent about the flow of aid and in their dealings with donors. The timeframe for completion of national action plans was considered unrealistic by some.
Donors become disenchanted and cut off funding.
Communication between NGOs and all EFA actors needed radical improvement, it was claimed. Systems and mechanisms were needed, not only to improve communication but to mainstream the innovative work of NGOs into the formal system. Meeting the needs of millions of children and adults is a challenge on a daunting scale requiring new ways of working. Closing the meeting, John Daniel again referred to the division of labour between agencies and NGOs.