The Collective Learning Initiative (CLI) on outcomes-based financing for early childhood care and education was launched through the Education Outcomes Fund (EOF) in 2024 to strengthen collaboration among stakeholders working at the intersection of outcomes-based financing (OBF) and Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE). Led by the GO Lab and NORRAG, the initiative aims to foster peer learning and knowledge exchange between stakeholders, contributing to a growing global knowledge base.
Over the past year, the CLI has continued to bring together diverse voices through workshops, interviews, and shared reflections, helping to deepen collective understanding of how OBF approaches can enhance the quality and sustainability of ECCE financing. Our various knowledge products, including a detailed synthesis of the 4th and 6th Knowledge Exchange session can be found here.
The 5th Knowledge Exchange Session, held on 3 September 2025, explored how OBF interacts with frontline realities and local agency — shifting the conversation from financing mechanisms to the lived experiences of teachers, caregivers, and communities. Through a keynote presentation by Professor Teresa Mwoma—a leading scholar and practitioner in early childhood education in Africa, an expert panel discussion, and group conversations, participants examined how to design OBF that works with and for local systems rather than on them. This document is a synthesis of the discussion and insights that came out of the session.
Cross-Cutting Themes
Professor Theresa Mwoma, an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Studies at Kenyatta University, Kenya, delivered the keynote presentation. With extensive experience in child development policy, and community-based interventions, she contextualised the discussion within Sub-Saharan Africa’s ECCE landscape, highlighting persistent inequities despite policy progress. She noted that OBF remains marginal across the region, constrained by fragmented budgets, limited data systems, and weak alignment between national financing priorities and donor-driven agendas.
Professor Mwoma emphasised that for OBF to drive lasting system improvement, financing must be explicitly tied to measurable child outcomes, underpinned by strong data and monitoring systems. It must also be supported through both public and private resource mobilisation and firmly embedded within national frameworks rather than implemented as short-term donor pilots. She concluded that the true value of OBF lies in its ability to strengthen local systems and expand equitable access to quality early learning opportunities across Africa.
Chaired by Dr. Arushi Terway, the panel brought together Professor Teresa Mwoma, Ms. Siegrid Holler (Instiglio), and Mr. Joe Di Silvio (Education Outcomes Fund) for an in-depth discussion on how outcomes-based financing (OBF) influences behaviour at both organisational and system levels. It explored how outcomes-based financing (OBF) influences the behaviour of frontline workers, service providers, and the wider education ecosystem.
Panelists expressed that while OBF can reshape incentives and improve accountability, behavioural change is rarely immediate. It evolves gradually through trust-building, collaboration, and consistent feedback between funders, implementers, and practitioners.
A number of themes emerged:
The panel further underscored that OBF can only succeed where strong inter-ministerial coordination and predictable public financing are in place. Ultimately, participants agreed that OBF delivers meaningful impact only when co-created with local actors, embedded within government systems, and aligned with broader goals of inclusion and equity.
Participants later divided into thematic breakout sessions to explore specific dimensions of applying OBF within early childhood systems. Three key areas emerged:
Participants highlighted that effective OBF models must treat communities and service providers as co-creators, not beneficiaries. Practical examples such as the Language and Learning Foundation’s participatory storytelling and curriculum co-design in India demonstrate how local ownership enhances both relevance and sustainability.
Similarly, collaboration with national bodies and associations, such as the Organisation Mondiale pour l’Éducation Préscolaire (OMEP), National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) in Nigeria, and teachers’ unions, was cited as essential for institutionalising collective engagement and ensuring continuity beyond project cycles.
Participants also noted that inclusive engagement takes time and requires sensitivity to the constraints local actors face, particularly where community-based organisations operate in fragile governance settings or with limited resources. Phased implementation and coaching were viewed as practical strategies to ensure local actors can meaningfully participate in outcomes-focused design and delivery.
Discussions underscored that in many African contexts, ECCE delivery remains largely driven by private, informal and community-based actors. Strengthening these networks, particularly teachers’ associations, could strengthen bottom-up approaches.
Participants noted that OBF can play a strategic role in professionalising the ECCE workforce by incentivising training, certification, and continuous improvement. Equally, local stakeholders should be meaningfully involved in verification, evaluation, and investment processes, ensuring that power and decision-making are shared rather than externally imposed.
Building on this, others emphasised that OBF success depends on translating high-level outcome frameworks into actionable steps for frontline providers. Coaching and codified tools can make these frameworks more tangible, while recognition and reputational incentives, alongside financial ones, can motivate sustained engagement. Participants framed this as part of a broader cultural shift toward valuing local expertise, trust, and adaptive learning.
Across all groups, participants agreed that OBF should aim to shift incentives and accountability structures in ways that strengthen rather than bypass government systems. Successful examples showed how alignment with national education priorities can make OBF a strategic investment tool.
However, participants cautioned that funders’ agendas must not overshadow local priorities. Ministries of Finance were identified as critical allies for embedding OBF within national budget frameworks and ensuring its sustainability beyond pilot stages.
Additional reflections highlighted that building government capacity is resource-intensive but essential. Pilot-to-scale transitions, such as Bogotá’s experience moving from a small experiment to a city-wide ECCE programme, illustrate both the opportunities and challenges of institutionalising OBF. Leveraging technology and codification tools could ease these transitions, reducing administrative burdens, supporting replication, and helping governments and providers internalise new ways of managing for outcomes.
Finally, OBF was seen not simply as a financing tool but as a lever for cultural and systemic change: redefining accountability, fostering collaboration, and embedding equity and learning at the heart of early childhood systems.
The fifth and final knowledge exchange of the Collective Learning Initiative (CLI) underscored that outcomes-based financing (OBF) is not a stand-alone solution, but a tool for aligning systems, incentives, and partnerships around shared goals for young children.
Participants agreed that OBF’s potential lies in its ability to strengthen government leadership, foster local ownership, and embed learning within public systems. When locally driven and linked to national priorities, OBF can bridge the gap between policy intent and practice helping to align fragmented actors toward equitable, measurable outcomes for children.
At the same time, participants cautioned that OBF must remain adaptive and context-sensitive, complementing rather than replacing existing funding mechanisms. Its success depends less on the model itself than on the quality of collaboration, data use, and mutual accountability it inspires.
In closing, the session reaffirmed that the future of OBF in ECCE will hinge on co-creation, trust, and sustained partnerships—using financing not merely to fund services, but to transform systems and improve every child’s early learning experience.