Following the adoption of the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Educational Resources (OER), UNESCO initiated a programme to support governments and educational institutions in implementation of the Recommendation. Part of this support includes the development of a series of five briefing notes or guidelines – one for each Action Area in the Recommendation. These briefing notes were developed through a lengthy consultative process and in cooperation with OER experts worldwide. OER Africa has provided technical and editorial assistance to UNESCO on this work as part of its cooperation with UNESCO. The Guidelines offer advice on how to operationalize each Action Area of the Recommendation. They are not prescriptive, but aim to offer suggestions for activities, as well as background on the specificities for the Action Area. Users are encouraged to contextualize the elements of these Guidelines as appropriate for their specific national and institutional contexts.