CONFINTEA VI - Final Reflections
David Harvey - December 8, 2009
CONFINTEA VI is now over and the world will watch for the longer term outcomes of the work of civil society organizations and government delegations that met in 2009 in Belem, Brazil under the auspices of UNESCO. As I understand it, this is the first time that civil society organizations formally met to work to influence the outcomes of any CONFINTEA -- and there are some results of this effort! Perhaps the biggest impact was a commitment to produce "fully-costed" and well-targeted plans "backed up by legislation" for adult literacy and basic education programs -- with the active participation of educators, civil society organizations, and adult learners themselves. ProLiteracy, in pushing for recommendations from civil society groups (NGOs), addressed the need for significant new funding by 2015 ($10 billion) and a central role for adult learners in formulating local programs.
For me personally, being new to the adult literacy and basic education fields, Belem was a rich learning experience about the policy and programmatic issues our field faces on the international level. Today I am going to Washington to participate in InterAction's annual CEO retreat. The entire meeting is focused on US foreign aid reform and meetings with high level officials from the Administration and Congressional leaders. I am well armed to carry forward the policy agenda from CONFINTEA to our own US government officials, as ProLiteracy pushes for more international adult literacy resources.
CONFINTEA VI is now over and the world will watch for the longer term outcomes of the work of civil society organizations and government delegations that met in 2009 in Belem, Brazil under the auspices of UNESCO. As I understand it, this is the first time that civil society organizations formally met to work to influence the outcomes of any CONFINTEA -- and there are some results of this effort! Perhaps the biggest impact was a commitment to produce "fully-costed" and well-targeted plans "backed up by legislation" for adult literacy and basic education programs -- with the active participation of educators, civil society organizations, and adult learners themselves. ProLiteracy, in pushing for recommendations from civil society groups (NGOs), addressed the need for significant new funding by 2015 ($10 billion) and a central role for adult learners in formulating local programs.
For me personally, being new to the adult literacy and basic education fields, Belem was a rich learning experience about the policy and programmatic issues our field faces on the international level. Today I am going to Washington to participate in InterAction's annual CEO retreat. The entire meeting is focused on US foreign aid reform and meetings with high level officials from the Administration and Congressional leaders. I am well armed to carry forward the policy agenda from CONFINTEA to our own US government officials, as ProLiteracy pushes for more international adult literacy resources.
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