Report of the second regional meeting on LIFE in Africa in January 2008, which was organised by the UNESCO Field Office in Maputo, the Regional Bureau of Education in Dakar (BREDA) and UIL. Sixteen African LIFE countries were present and the meeting was broadened by the participation of Brazil, Haiti and Sudan. A common understanding of the LIFE vision and strategy was developed and innovative experiences in different areas of literacy were shared.

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This meeting, which was jointly organised by UNESCO Dhaka, UIL and the Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education/Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All (APPEAL) contributed to a deeper understanding of LIFE as a platform for collaborative action to accelerate literacy efforts in the countries where it operates by putting literacy high on political agendas, mobilising resources, strengthening capacities and intensifying South-South cooperation. The sharing of experiences from Bangladesh and Pakistan was at the centre of the meeting because both Bangladesh and Pakistan benefit from...

In November 2007, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning brought together family literacy practitioners and researchers from all over the world to take stock of policies, practices and research in family literacy and to explore the relevance and potential of family literacy in adult education and lifelong learning. This publication contains the report from this meeting as well as overviews of all the projects presented therein.

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This book comprises complementary studies by H.S. Bhola and Sofía Valdivielso Gómez, joint winners of the sixth International Award for Literacy Research, given by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, Hamburg. Prof. Bhola’s text systematically explores how the adult literacy drive and the promotion of sustainable development can be brought together, while Dr. Valdivielso Gómez argues for an integral approach to literacy and sustainable development, informed by the ideas of the philosopher Ken Wilber. Both provide valuable signposts for researchers, policy-makers and...

The book identifies quantitative, qualitative and multi-method approaches, and is based upon existing research methods teaching in Africa. It is grounded in African adult education contexts and draws on material and experiences from research courses taught in African universities. It emphasises the importance of combining quantitative methods with qualitative research that is embedded in adult education contexts and that builds on indigenous knowledge. Examples of the contexts addressed in the book include: village communities, agriculture development workers, literacy and income...

The Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) is designed as a global strate-gic framework through which national governments, NGOs, civil society, the private sector, UN agencies, and bilateral and multilateral agencies collectively revitalize and accelerate literacy efforts in countries where illiteracy poses a critical challenge. LIFE is a key strategic framework for the implementation of the United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD), which is led and coordinated by UNESCO. LIFE is an initiative to facilitate and promote the achievement of the Education for All (EFA) and UNLD goals. LIFE...

The present publication is the final product of the collective work of IntALWinE, giving an account of the activities carried out and the results achieved in the framework of the Socrates/Grundtvig network. It includes a series of suggestions and examples of good practice collected by the IntALWinE partners for the improvement of learning festivals and structured in five categories around events and activities, promotional material awards, cooperation and evaluation. Two sets of policy recommendations are also presented in this publication: one produced by the network partners and the...

This issue looks at the relationship between literacy and HIV prevention education. It is the result of the Institute’s work on examining the contribution of non-formal education (NFE) to HIV prevention, carried out in collaboration with the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) Working Group on Non-formal Education. It demonstrates how literacy (one of the key areas of non-formal education) is making a difference in HIV prevention through innovative approaches, where community participation and involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS are the main underlying...

This publication contains the results of the conference South-South Policy Dialogue on Quality Education for Adults and Young People that took place in Mexico City in 2005.

Articles were written by participants who presented their national programmes from the governmental perspective, which were reflected in the literacy policies, but there were also important contributions on basic education and competence recognition.

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Addressing the needs of 774 million illiterate women and men globally is indeed an enormous challenge. It requires coordinated initiatives on all fronts: enabling policy-making that considers literacy central to education and development; increasing allocations to one of the most marginalised and underfunded education sub-sectors; developing a relevant curriculum, an appropriate methodology and suitable materials; seeking ways in which literacy may be integrated into development concerns such as livelihood, employment, health promotion and citizenship; recognising and valuing the...