The Overseas Development Institute was
commissioned to provide a rapid review of recent
literature on international practice and experience in
supporting pro-poor health service provision in
fragile states, focusing on multilateral and bilateral
donors’ approaches. It was requested that particular
attention be paid to literature published since the
World Bank 2004 World Development Report Making
Services Work for the Poor (World Bank, 2004), a
milestone in international thinking on service
delivery. The overall review consists of three sectoral
reports (health, water/sanitation and education)
together with a Synthesis. This paper constitutes a
literature review of the education sector. The
purpose of the literature review was to inform the
Office of Development Effectiveness’ evaluation of
service delivery and contribute to a wider effort
within AusAID to better understand donor
engagement in fragile environments.