Overview
In 2002, the World Bank together with development partners launched the Education for All–Fast Track Initiative (FTI). FTI is a global partnership to help low-income countries meet the education Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the EFA goal that all children complete a full cycle of primary education by 2015. The FTI is a platform for collaboration at the global and country levels. Through the FTI compact, developing countries commit to design and implement sound education plans while donor partners commit to align and harmonize additional support around these plans.  Funding is channeled through existing bilateral and multilateral channels and also through the FTI Catalytic Fund (CF), which supports countries with insufficient resources to implement their sector plans. FTI ranks among the largest global partnerships in which the Bank is a player.

How FTI works
FTI is built on the principles of country ownership and local-level empowerment, as well as mutual accountability and donor harmonization rooted in the Monterrey Consensus and Paris Declaration principles. Its vision encompasses:

1. country preparation of a sound education sector plan addressing policy, capacity, data, and funding gaps as well as a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP);
2. endorsement of the plan by the country’s Local Donor Group, to signal to bilateral and multilateral financiers that the plan is investment-ready
3. alignment and harmonization of donor support around this country-owned, investment-ready plan.

The World Bank and FTI
The World Bank has a significant role and stake in the partnership: it launched the partnership, in collaboration with other donors; it hosts the FTI Secretariat; and it serves as Trustee and Supervising Entity for FTI’s two trust funds, the Catalytic Fund (CF) and the Education Program Development Fund (EPDF).  Collaborating with developing country and donor country partners at the country level as well as at the global level to realize the promise of FTI is a high priority for the Bank.

FTI is a much needed partnership because it:

• supports the Bank's overall objectives for education, which is a vital contributor to economic and human development and poverty reduction;
• helps countries address the large gaps they face in meeting education MDG 2, in areas of policy, capacity, data, finance 
• helps countries accelerate progress, which requires more effective aid, and more external fuding, 
• assures improved efficiency and lower transaction costs for donor assistance because donors come together around a single country plan rather than engage in fragmented efforts; this is especially important in today’s context of substantial and growing donor interest in primary education
• helps to extend the Bank's reach and leverage in support of education through the partnership
• recognizes that progress must be country-driven; more money at the global level alone is not enough

The Bank's involvement is essential because the Bank:

• has historically been the largest external financier in education and has a strong presence in most low-income countries’ education sectors
• brings unique strengths to the table that can benefit recipient countries and strengthen the effectiveness of aid
• can use its convening power to help take forward the Paris Declaration agenda of donor harmonization and alignment around each country’s own education sector plan (ESP)
  

For more information visit Education For All Fast Track Initiative (EFA FTI) website.