Monitoring the follow-up process

The Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI) “Living and Learning for a Viable Future: The Power of Adult Learning” adopted a re-focused and strengthened charter, aiming to move from rhetoric to action. The Belém Framework for Action inscribes adult literacy and adult education as enabling and empowering tools for hope and change. It contains proposals and recommendations to improve policy, governance, financing, participation and the quality of adult literacy, adult education and lifelong learning and outlines mechanisms to report on and be accountable for progress, and calls on UNESCO to coordinate and support data collection and monitoring.

In order to guide and support UNESCO in the CONFINTEA VI follow-up process, a CONFINTEA Advisory Group has been created. In consultation with the Advisory Group, UIL elaborated a CONFINTEA Follow-Up Strategy in order to help countries and stakeholders to operationalize and implement the commitments and recommendations of the Belém Framework for Action. It includes:

• Guiding Principles for the CONFINTEA VI Follow-up Process
• Concrete Proposals for National and Regional Action
• UNESCO’s Coordination and Active Support at International Level.

The Follow-Up Strategy is a dynamic document. It will be further enriched and adapted as the CONFINTEA VI follow-up process unfolds. In addition, the CONFINTEA Advisory Group will use their regular meetings for a systematic revision of the Strategy.

Follow-up Strategy of the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (PDF 46KB)

CONFINTEA Advisory Group

The CONFINTEA Advisory Group has been created as a mechanism to guide and support UNESCO in the CONFINTEA VI follow-up process. It includes representatives of governments (members of the CONFINTEA VI Bureau and hosts of regional preparatory conferences), international key stakeholder organizations (UN and cooperation agencies, civil society organization, learner association), UNESCO Governing Bodies and UNESCO (HQ units, Regional Offices and institutes).

Overall, the tasks of the CONFINTEA Advisory Group are to:

• maintain and reinforce the political momentum created by CONFINTEA VI in favour of adult literacy and adult education as critical elements within comprehensive lifelong learning policy frameworks;

• help to shape and regularly update, on the basis of the Belém Framework for Action, a concrete CONFINTEA VI Follow-up Plan with recommendations to initiate, accelerate and monitor progress in relation to policy development, gender equality and better provision and participation in adult literacy and adult education;

• advocate for increased resources for adult literacy and adult education; and

• act, in support of the above, as an institutionalised advocacy group for adult literacy and adult education at the international level and vis-à-vis national stakeholders.

Involvement in the CONFINTEA Advisory Group  is to be long-term, with regular meetings to take stock of and give new impetus to the CONFINTEA VI follow-up

Record of the first meeting, Hamburg, 22 – 23 March 2010 (PDF 46KB)

Detailed Composition of the CONFINTEA Advisory Group (PDF 46KB)

CONFINTEA VI: Conference in Brazil 2009

The Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI), hosted by the Government of Brazil in Belém from 1 to 4 December 2009, provided an important platform for policy dialogue and advocacy on adult learning and non-formal education at global level. The conference brought together UNESCO Member States, United Nations agencies, multi- and bi-lateral cooperation agencies, organisations from civil society, the private sector and learners from all world regions.  more

Regional Preparatory Conferences 2008 and 2009

CONFINTEA VI was preceded by five Regional Preparatory Conferences, whose programmes were designed in relation to the overall thematic focus and adapted to the respective regional contexts.

The Regional Conferences discussed and validated the respective Regional Synthesis Reports (based on national reports on the development and state of adult learning and education), identified the key issues on adult learning and education in the region, and suggested key recommendations for adult learning and education to be taken forward to CONFINTEA VI. more