Adult Education and Lifelong Learning Within UNESCO: CONFINTEA, Education for All, and Beyond

Abstract

UNESCO and Lifelong Learning: The Road to and From Belem There can no longer be any doubt that adult education within lifelong learning is a key factor for economic and social development, as well as being a human right. New policies for adult education must now result in coherent forms of laws and legislation clearly spelling out ways and means for financing adult education. These must involve the public, private, and non-governmental organization (NGO) sectors, social partners, and individuals. As studies for CONFINTEA VI demonstrate, change in most countries is slow and not far-reaching enough, especially because of too low a public sector investment in human resources. In the current global financial crisis things are getting worse, and the gaps between those with and those without are widening at all levels. The need to reverse this trend is urgent. What is being done about it, especially by the key international body UNESCO? The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) now has 193 states and seven associates in membership. It was foreshadowed in 1942, the year after the United States entered World War II, to provide ways and means for reconstructing systems of education once peace was restored. The United States was a central partner in its formation. UNESCO came into force on 4 November 1946 after ratification by twenty countries and held its first General Conference from 19 November to l0 December 1946 with the participation of 30 governments. The first International Adult Education Conference was held three years later in 1949. The sixth conference in a series sustained over 60 years, CONFINTEA VI, was held in Belem in Brazil in 2009, with 1,125 participants from 144 countries and representatives of other international agencies, non-governmental organizations, and learner associations. UNESCO is now carrying out a follow-up strategy in an endlessly patient cycle of activity, concentrating on three aspects with actions at national and regional levels: policy development, improvement of provision and quality, and data collection and documentation of progress. UNESCO already has a schedule of activity running through to mid-term, which is halfway through the time before the next CONFINTEA is due. Most immediately, UNESCO's follow-up strategy looked to the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) from 20 to 22 September 2010. This meeting was embraced as a precious opportunity to disseminate the Belem Framework for Action (UIL, 2010), making the case for adult literacy and adult learning being central to the achievement of all the MDGs. What has this unceasing activity achieved, and where do we go from here? Unfortunately, the importance of quality youth and adult education, training, and learning was again not recognized as a major factor that helps in achieving the MDGs. So, challenges beckon and we still have much work to do. Some may want to start by further familiarizing themselves with the eight MDGs agreed upon by member countries at the Millennium meeting of the United Nations in 2000, available at both the United Nations and UNESCO websites. Namely: 1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger 2. Achieve Universal Primary Education 3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women 4. Reduce Child Mortality 5. Improve Maternal Health 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Other Diseases 7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability 8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development For a better understanding of the goals and targets of the Millennium Declaration and the accompanying indicators for monitoring progress, see the official United Nations site for the MDG indicators (http://mdgs.un.org/ unsd/mdg). For further inquiry see also UN (2010). UNESCO became rather politicised in the difficult Cold War era; its fourth big conference, in 1985, was fraught with power bloc difficulties, yet managed to achieve significant results. …