© UNESCO
During the International Conference of Learning Cities, held in October 2013 in Beijing, the participants adopted the Beijing Declaration on Building Learning Cities and committed themselves to advancing the development of learning cities. Turning this commitment into action, city authorities in Paraguay decided that Ybycui will be the first city in Paraguay to become a learning city. Ms. María del Carmen Díaz (Municipal Intendant of Ybycui) has undertaken important efforts to establish the Learning City Project: "Ybycui learns and develops". The concrete aim of the project is to build a city that is committed to its development and to lifelong learning, including the participation of the whole community.
The initiative was launched on 28 March 2014 and has been endorsed by a variety of different actors. Horacio Cartes (President of Paraguay), Marta Lafuente (Minister of Education and Culture), representatives of the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI ), the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) as well as state agencies and civil society organizations participated in the launch as witnesses of honour. The Global Network of Learning Cites (GNLC) will continue to support Ybycui city in improving its learning facilities and using their resources more effectively in every sector. Link: address made in the launch by Mr Arne Carlsen, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning.
