The outgoing and the incoming Director of UIL meet with the Lord Mayor of the City-State of Hamburg

On 1 June, Arne Carlsen, the new Director of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), and Adama Ouane, the outgoing Director, were received by the Lord Mayor of Hamburg, Mr Olaf Scholz. The occasion was to greet Mr Carlsen on his first day of office and to wish Mr Ouane well for the future, after 11 years as Director.

The meeting paid tribute to the very cordial relations which UIL has enjoyed over the years with the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, which has always been a generous host to the Institute. It has furnished the Institute with its base at the “Albert Ballin Villa”. This house is a protected historic monument, located close to the University of Hamburg, with which UIL enjoys a fruitful partnership.

“Hamburg will facilitate the work of the Institute in every way,” stated Max Brauer, the former Mayor of Hamburg, in a telegram sent to UNESCO’s Director-General on 22 October 1951, prior to its establishment in Hamburg as the UNESCO Institute for Education. Initially, the Institute was to have been located in Freiburg, but Mr Brauer fought unstintingly for Hamburg to be its seat. The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg has maintained this support ever since, and has stood by the Institute through thick and thin. It was fully behind the Institute’s change of status to a fully-fledged international Institute in 2006. Mr Scholz reaffirmed the City’s strong commitment to UIL. UIL’s worldwide reputation as “the Hamburg Institute” truly reflects well on its host city.

Mr Scholz, Mr Carlsen and Mr Ouane discussed issues of common interest, such as UIL’s cooperation with the University of Hamburg and the lifelong learning agenda, which is very meaningful to the City of Hamburg – a city known for its commitment to education. As a token of the enduring friendship between the City and the Institute, but also to mark Mr Ouane’s achievements as Director, he was presented with a special medal of honour by the Mayor.

Mr Carlsen stated that he would continue the work of the Institute with a priority on literacy and on Africa, but also to extend its activities in Europe and Asia, as well as strengthen its cooperation with and services to Latin America and the Caribbean, and with the Arab States.