© UNESCO
In September 2011, the Government of the Philippines convened a meeting in Manila, bringing together Filipino migrants from all over the world. This resulted in the formation of the Global Filipino Diaspora Council (GFDC) and a recommendation to organise regional meetings. In this context, the 1st Conference of Filipinos in Europe, entitled the “Diaspora-to-Dialogue (D2D) Conference” was organised by the Philippine government (Philippines Embassy in Rome and Commission of Filipino Overseas), the International Organization of Migration, the City of Rome and several migrant organizations from 27-29 September 2012.
The objectives of the Conference, which was attended by some 200 participants, were:
- to empower migrants for development by providing a forum for Europe-based Filipino migrant associations to discuss migrants’ political, socio-economic, and cultural integration/re-integration issues in the host countries and the Philippines and;
- to organise a process that will best identify common and different issues at the local, regional and global levels that will contribute to the thematic agenda of the 2013 Global Filipino Diaspora Council in the Philippines.
The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) was represented by its Deputy Director, Ms Carolyn Medel-Anonuevo, who gave a plenary presentation on international migration and lifelong learning and facilitated a workshop on identifying education needs of migrants and their families.
The Conference ended with the approval of a Declaration which will be presented to the President of the Republic of the Philippines. A number of elements in the recommendations point to the need for diversified education and learning opportunities for migrants.
