FOREWORD
On the 50th anniversary of International Literacy Day on 8 September 2016, UNESCO launched the third Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE III). The chief purpose of GRALE III is to take stock of countries’ progress in implementing the commitments to adult learning and education (ALE) made at the 2009 International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI). Drawing on monitoring surveys completed by 139 UNESCO Member States, the report presents a differentiated picture of the global state of ALE. It also examines the impact of ALE on three key areas: health and well-being; employment and the labour market; and social, civic and community life. In so doing, it highlights some of the major contributions that ALE can make to realizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. GRALE III argues that, while countries report progress in implementing all areas of the 2009 Belém Framework for Action, major challenges remain, including gender inequality, low levels of literacy among adults, and a lack of reliable data on ALE. The report makes a compelling case for a holistic, inter-sectoral approach to tackling these challenges.
International Literacy Day also saw the launch of the Global Alliance for Literacy within the Framework of Lifelong Learning (GAL) by the Director-General of UNESCO, Ms Irina Bokova. Coordinated on behalf of UNESCO by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong (UIL), GAL is a multi-stakeholder partnership aiming to promote literacy over the next fifteen years in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. GAL will focus in particular on realizing the literacy-related target of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, namely to ensure that by 2030 ‘all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy’. In pursuing this target, GAL will promote an integrated, innovative and inclusive approach to literacy that recognizes the interlinkages and integrated nature of all the SDGs. It will encourage policy coherence, foster innovation through technology, expand literacy learning opportunities to all age groups and make literacy learning more relevant. Members of GAL will include representatives of Member States, regional organizations, UN specialized agencies and institutes, donors, the private sector and civil society.
With GRALE III and GAL, UIL seeks to ensure that lifelong learning is integrated into policy and practice, thereby placing countries in a better position to achieve the SDGs. This issue of Nexus looks at how lifelong learning can be applied in different sectors to help achieve all seventeen SDGS.
With this, I wish you enjoyable reading.
Arne Carlsen
Director
UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning
|
Printer-friendly version
