These guides have been prepared by UNESCO, as part of its programme of the support to governments and educational institutions in the implementation of the UNESCO OER Recommendation. They draw heavily on the in-depth background papers prepared by OER experts from around the world in each of the five Action Areas: Prof. Melinda dP. Bandalaria (building the capacity of stakeholders to create, access, re-use, adapt and redistribute OER); Dr Javiera Atenas (developing supportive policy); Dr Ahmed Tlili (encouraging inclusive and equitable quality OER); Dr Tel Amiel (nurturing the creation of sustainability models for OER), and Ms Lisbeth Levey (facilitating international cooperation). We are deeply grateful for their assistance and expert knowledge. Preparation of the text of the final guides was done with support from Neil Butcher and Alison Zimmermann of OER Africa.

The tables of possible actions for governments and institutions are adapted from an OER Recommendation Actions Matrix, which outlines practical activities that governments and educational institutions can consider operationalizing under the five action areas of the Recommendation. The Matrix was first developed in November 2019, using inputs from members of the Network of Open Orgs (NOO).