© UNESCO
On 1 June, I will take office as Director of UIL, succeeding Adama Ouane. This is a very important day for me, as I take on such a weighty responsibility. It is my strongly-held belief that UIL’s work is of the greatest significance.
Although UIL is by no means the only international agency working in the field of adult education and lifelong learning, it is in the unique position of having a truly global reach and a clear mandate within the UN family. While situated in the North, the Institute’s work has always focused on international exchange in educational policy, research and practice with a particular concern for South-South and South-North dialogue.
The Institute has a strong record of achievement in work in adult literacy in developing countries and was also the first to address “functional literacy” in industrialised countries. It has maintained this position to the current day. As an Institute working for all 193 UNESCO Member States and able to call on a vast network of governmental, non-governmental and inter-governmental agencies, UNESCO National Commissions, regional and field offices, as well as universities, it is extremely advantageously-placed to carry out research, and to gather and disseminate evidence and experience in its fields of expertise worldwide.
The Institute has a truly holistic vision of education and advocates for a humanistic concept of lifelong learning. It works towards developing inclusive lifelong learning policies and learning societies in UNESCO Member States.
I look forward to advancing this noble mission in close cooperation with UNESCO Headquarters, the UNESCO family and many other partners, and I feel privileged to be able to rely on UIL’s highly dedicated staff. Together, in the years to come, we will make even greater efforts to improve our support to Member States by focusing on the impact and the tangible outcomes of the Institute’s work. Adult literacy, adult basic education, continuing education and training, and human resource development in a lifelong learning perspective and based on humanistic values, are a prerequisite for living and working in the societies of the 21st Century. However, we must not neglect that learning is a source of individual and collective fulfillment and a source of joy.
