Partnership for Education? A Case Study on Tumaco, Colombia on a North-South Co-operation for Education in Conflict Areas

This thesis contributes to the subject of north-south partnerships between non-governmental development organisations (NGOs) working with education in areas affected by armed conflict and humanitarian challenges. The increased numbers of NGOs and other international organisations such as the UN working with development is used as a demand for better co-ordination of development projects, both to avoid project overlapping, but also to increase the impacts of the projects. The case study focuses on an ongoing partnership in Tumaco, located on the Pacific coast in South-Western Colombia, which is experiencing high levels of armed conflict, leading to high numbers of forced displacements. The studied partnership consists of two northern development NGOs, as well as two local NGOs and a Community-Based Organisation (CBO), but also includes co-operation with Colombian education authorities, local Education Institutions and universities. This demonstrates a complex dynamic between the partners, and poses challenges to issues such as balance in the co-operation in terms of decision-making and project management. The partnership s aim is to enrol internal displaced persons and marginalised population into the public school system with the use of flexible education models and institution strengthening of the education institutions. The study s central subject is to explore to which degree the partnership is complying with its prerequisites. Based on the case study, the paper concludes that the partnership is a necessary mechanism to increase the desired outcomes of the projects. The partners have different levels of participation in the co-operation. The study shows that the studied northern NGOs have a well-established relationship with the local community organisations, while the relations with the education authorities is a more formal, and is perceived as giving public legitimacy to the project. The study contributes to a discussion on how development actors co-operate on different levels to assist internal displaced and vulnerable persons in areas with high levels of security challenges with education