An International seminar cum workshop Duisburg-Essen University,
March 28-29, 2011
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND NETWORKING IN LITERACY AND ADULT EDUCATION: EXPERIENCES, ISSUES & POLICY IMPLICATIONS.
Importance and issues
Literacy continues to be a major global challenge and remains high on the agenda of international organizations specially the UNESCO. It is the focal point of Education for All (EFA) program which aims at a 50 percent reduction in the global illiteracy rate by 2015. The Belem Framework for Action, (2009) the final document of the Sixth World Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA -VI) has also reiterated the earlier commitment and calls for redoubling the efforts to reduce illiteracy. Notwithstanding the formulation and implementation of several national and international policies, innovative programs and collaborative projects during the past several years, the decrease in illiteracy has been rather slow. Although the percentage of illiteracy was reduced from 24 to 18 during the decade 1990-2000, the absolute number of illiterates remains quite high. Currently there are 774 million illiterates in the world of whom two thirds are women. Almost 70 per cent of the world's illiterates - an estimated 510 million are in E-9 countries; Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan. The current context of globalization and knowledge society compounds the urgency of addressing the issue of literacy for all, especially among the poor and marginalized.
Effective literacy promotion depends on the collaborative efforts of a wide range of partners, strategies and activities. Apart from bilateral and multilateral agencies, civil society organizations, national governments, UNESCO, and several networks have been actively involved in addressing the concerns of literacy. While the Institute for International Cooperation of German Adult Education Association (IIZ/DVV) has been an active player in facilitating international cooperation through literacy and adult education in Asia, Africa and Latin America; some of the bilateral agencies of Sweden, Netherlands, Norway and Britain have also been facilitating the designing and delivery of literacy and adult education programs in several developing countries. An innovative program on women's literacy (Mahila Samakhya) launched in India in 1988 with the cooperation of Dutch government continues even today. Since inception UNESCO has been giving high priority for eradication of illiteracy. The UNESCO project on the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) launched in 2008 is a strategic framework for collaborative action aimed at enhancing and harmonizing literacy efforts in 35 countries. A number of universities in Asia and Europe have initiated collaborative researches and teaching and training programs in the field of literacy and adult education. Several specialized networks specially the Adult Learning Documentation and Information Network (ALADIN) and ASEM Network on Professionalization of Adult Education serve as channels of information exchange and collaborative researches and publications. The Talloires Network comprising of 50 major universities has a focus on promoting literacy through inter university projects.
These partnership projects funded by the UNESCO and various agencies and operationalized through official channels, nongovernmental organizations and academic institutions have not only given a boost to literacy in several developing countries but also sensitized adult educators and policy planners about the literacy issues. They have also led to exchange of information, experience and staff, building the capacities of personnel, preparation and production of teaching materials and strengthening of literacy institutions. They may have followed different approaches and had varying impact. The experiences of different stakeholders who were associated with these projects and their insights and lessons learned may be very helpful in future policy planning. What were the main areas of cooperation in literacy and adult education? Is there a connection between approaches to cooperation and the type of agency? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the existing mechanisms of international cooperation in literacy and adult education? What are the challenges faced by the aid agencies in the field of literacy and adult education? What insights and learning can be derived from past experiences of cooperating for literacy? Did the cooperation pave the way for innovations or reforms in literacy and adult education or generate any conflicts? What are the best practices that could be replicated?
The proposed workshop aims at discussing the above issues based on the case studies of the collaborative projects implemented by the bilateral agencies, nongovernmental organizations, universities and the UNESCO during the last two decades.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the workshop are to:
Critically review the different international collaborative projects in literacy and adult education implemented during the last two decades;
Examine the existing mechanisms of international cooperation in literacy and adult education;
Discuss the select case studies of programs/projects implemented by the four agencies viz; bilateral, nongovernmental, academic institutions and the UNESCO;
Analyze the issues related to international cooperation in literacy and adult education;
Recommend further strategies for strengthening international cooperation in literacy and adult education.
MAIN THEMES
The following four main themes will be transacted through key note addresses, papers and discussions.
1. Role of UN organizations, especially UNESCO, UIL, UNICEF, UNFPA;
2. Role of Governmental agencies,
3. Role of Academic Institutions, an
4. Role of Non-Governmental organizations
TENTATIVE PROGRAM
The workshop will be structured in four sessions as follows:
March 28, 2011 First Session: 1400-1515
A key note presentation on -An Overview of International Cooperation in Literacy -Issues and challenges followed by discussions.
Coffee Break 1515-1530
Second Session: 1530- 1700 Presentation of select case studies International cooperation through (1) governmental agencies; (2) nongovernmental organizations
March 29, 2011 Third session: 0930-1100.
Presentation of select case studies - International cooperation through (3) UNESCO; (4) Academic Institutions.
Tea Break 1100-1115
Fourth Session: 1130-1300. Discussion on Issues and policy implications.
Details of the speakers and exact titles of their presentation will be available by March 20,
There will be no registration fees.
The seminar will provide an opportunity to the students and faculty to listen to the presentations by some of the renowned experts and scholars in the area of literacy and adult education and participate in the discussions and network with them. The speakers are from international organizations, UNESCO, nongovernmental organizations and universities from Asia and Europe.
For further information and registration-contact:
Meike.Huemmecke@uni-due.de or mario.ganz@uni-due.de