Effective Aid Modality for Funding “Soft" Investments and Global Public Goods in Education : The Norwegian Education Trust Fund (NETF)

Many donor countries have established special “Trust Funds" located in international agencies to fund analytical work, policy development and various types of regional and global public good functions in the education sector. This article describes one such Fund -- The Norwegian Education Trust Fund (NETF) -- set up by Norway in 1998 and managed by the World Bank. Over its ten years existence, the Fund disbursed US$46 million to support analytical work, policy formulation and preparation of education sector program in Sub-Saharan African countries as well as a variety of regional activities benefitting these countries. This article describes the rationale for establishing this Fund, what it financed and why, what it achieved, and what lessons can be drawn with respect to the use of this type of mechanism to provide targeted support of this type.