Collective Learning Initiative for Outcomes Based Finance in Early Childhood Care and Education
The Collective Learning Initiative, launched through the Education Outcomes Fund (EOF), is a collaborative effort designed to strengthen and support outcomes-based financing (OBF) for early childhood care and education (ECCE) globally.
The initiative is led by the GO Lab, which provides research and facilitates collaboration, and NORRAG, which brings deep expertise and a global network of education professionals. Together with EOF, we have created a global platform for shared learning at the intersection of outcomes-based financing and early childhood education and care.
What the initiative does
Around the world, access to high-quality, affordable early childhood education remains uneven, despite strong evidence that the early years are critical for lifelong learning and development. Outcomes-based finance seeks to address this challenge by linking funding to measurable improvements in children’s learning, development, and wellbeing. However, designing and implementing these approaches in complex, fragmented ECCE systems is not straightforward.
The Collective Learning Initiative supports collective learning on how outcomes-based finance can be used effectively in early childhood systems. It brings together researchers, policymakers, funders, and practitioners to exchange insights, reflect on experience, and develop practical guidance.
Over the past year, the initiative has built a growing international learning community through workshops, interviews, knowledge exchange sessions, and publications. Together, this community has expanded the global evidence base on outcomes-based finance in ECCE.
What we are learning
Insights from the Collective Learning Initiative point to a shift towards systems thinking, with greater attention to the underlying conditions that shape outcomes in early childhood education, including governance arrangements, data systems, workforce capacity, and coordination across sectors.
Equity and inclusion are increasingly central to new approaches, with project designers exploring how outcomes-based finance can better support marginalised communities, including children with disabilities and those in low-income or rural settings. At the same time, the initiative has surfaced persistent challenges, such as rigid contracting structures, weak data infrastructure, and limited public sector capacity to design, monitor, and adapt OBF approaches.
Building collective capacity
Rather than presenting outcomes-based finance as a single solution, the Collective Learning Initiative treats it as a learning framework. By fostering collaboration, evidence-sharing, and reflection across contexts, the initiative aims to strengthen collective capacity to use outcomes-based finance in ways that support lasting, equitable improvements in early childhood care and education.
If you want to find out more about the CLI, please reach out to Jonathan Davies
