GEO/ICAE


VOICES RISING
YEAR VI - Nº 276
August 1st, 2008

 


Content

1.- Announcements

2.- Charting the Civil Society Road Map to CONFINTEA 6
3.- CONFINTEA VI /AONTAS / VOFO
4.- NAVANETHEM PILLAY CONFIRMED AS NEW HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
5.- G8 communiqué

6.- Lifelong Learning in the South / Aprendizaje a lo largo de toda la vida en el Sur
7.- Defined the list of 10 action objectives for WSF 2009 participants

8.- Convocatoria para recibir artículos: género y educación

 

 

1.- Announcements

 

IALLA IV Call for Applications

On July 31st. the call for application for the fourth edition of our ICAE Academy of Lifelong Learning Advocacy closed with hundreds of applications. This year the call has raised great interest, particularly among african people. We are still processing all the information received and we hope to be able to notify selected applicants by mid August.

 

- We are glad to inform that ICAE strategic document for CONFINTEA VI is available in our website in 4 languages: Spanish, English, French and Portuguese.

 

- Likewise, the briefing of GEO meeting, recently held on June 26-28, in Montevideo, is also available in 4 languages

 

- Only 292 days are left for CONFINTEA VI, we would like you to share with us what has been done in your country or within your organization during this preparatory process.
Please send the information to: oficina@icae.org.uy

- GRALE: Global Report on Adult Learning and Education

http://graleconfintea6.net/Home.htm

 

- Please visit http://www.icae.org.uy/eng/confinteavi.html , to read CONFINTEA VI Road map, Key Issues at Stake – ICAE, Public Paper and the latest update on CONFINTEA VI. It includes the themes and dates for the regional pre-conferences.
If you have any additional information please send it to us oficina@icae.org.uy

 

- Women’s Consultation on Financing for Development

Church Center, New York, June 16-17 2008

Formal Submission to the Financing for Development Review Process
http://www.icae.org.uy/eng/newss.html

Spanish: http://www.icae.org.uy/spa/declaraciondelaconsultademujeresfirmas01julio.pdf

- The Links between Julius K. Nyerere and the ICAE: From the First World Assembly in 1976 in Dares Salaam to the Next in 2007 in Nairobi.
 Prof.(H) Dr. Heribert Hinzen, Director of the IIZ/DW, gives a brief historical overview of the development of the ICAE, from the UNESCO International Conference of 1972 in Tokyo and the foundation of the ICAE in 1973, to the 7th World Assembly in January 2007, and high-lights key figures who have determined its history.
http://www.iiz-dvv.de/index.php?article_id=195&clang=1 

 
 
 
 

2.- Charting the Civil Society Road Map to CONFINTEA 6

 

Maria Khan
ASPBAE
maria.aspbae@gmail.com

 Español , Français
 

35 adult education advocates and practitioners from over 10 countries in the Asia Pacific region convened in Khandala, Maharashtra from July 15-17, 2008 for an Asia Pacific CSO Strategizing Workshop  for Adult Education Advocacy titled “Charting the Civil Society Road Map to CONFINTEA 6”..

 

In May 2009, UNESCO will convene the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA 6) in Belem, Brazil - twelve (12) years after the international community endorsed the 1997 Hamburg Declaration and Platform of Action codifying a set of commitments to promote adult education and learning.  These commitments were reiterated in the 2000 World Education Conference in Dakar, where governments in the North and South committed to halving the number of adult illiterates by 2015 (EFA Goal 4) and to expanding the provision of like skills and adult learning opportunities especially for young adults (EFA Goal 3). These commitments were affirmed within a period of optimism: when the global community boldly agreed to finally rid the world of wide-scale poverty in this lifetime – and recognized the critical role of education in winning this battle. CONFINTEA 6 and its various preparatory processes will be important for adult education advocates, practitioners and learners to take stock of the state of adult education and learning in the world – and how governments and the international community have fared in their promises to provide adult education support to all their citizens.

 

As a regional civil society organization committed to advancing the right of all to education and learning throughout life, ASPBAE organized the Asia Pacific CSO Strategising Workshop to enable a strong civil society, Asia Pacific voice and presence in the CONFINTEA 6 processes. The workshop thus focused on developing consensus on and commitment to an advocacy action plan for 2008-2009 with clearly articulated positions and change objectives on agreed priority policy issues especially along the areas of quality adult literacy and adult education; life skills responsive to learning needs of poor and marginalized groups (migrant workers, indigenous people, displaced communities, HIV/AIDS-vulnerable groups, especially the women within these groups); adult education legislation, governance and financing.

 

A substantial set of policy recommendations were identified along these areas. These will form part of an Outcomes Document which will be crafted by ASPBAE and disseminated as a guide to members and partners in their advocacy planning, lobbying and policy positioning for CONFINTEA 6 and other policy spaces addressing adult and basic education.

 

In the concluding session, the participants also defined a set of “MUST HAVES“, or the main CSO policy targets for CONFINTEA 6:

 

·                Agreement on strong and effective monitoring mechanisms to be established for CONFINTEA 6 commitments, based on time-bound goals and targets; The Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE) which will be released in CONFINTEA 6 should form part of this regular monitoring/tracking mechanism.

·                GCE-ActionAid Benchmarks on Quality Adult Literacy to be endorsed and committed to.

·                Budget /Finance targets agreed upon: Governments to allocate at least 6% of the Education Budget for adult education, of which 3% to be reserved for adult literacy programmes.

·                Increase in ODA for adult literacy and adult education in the framework of the EFA goals and targets. Aid should become more responsive, transparent, participatory and untied  - without conditionalities. The EFA Fast Track Initiative to include adult education and literacy components, and ensure efficient and prompt delivery of financing support.

·                Adult literacy and adult education plans and targets form part of the education sector and over-all poverty eradication plans of governments and are fully costed and resourced.

·                Government to commit to establishing relevant data collection and assessment mechanisms for adult literacy and education; the international community to fully support these financially and with demand-driven, context-based capacity-building support

·                Governments commit to strong inter-agency coordination mechanisms at the national level for planning, implementation and monitoring of adult education and learning programmes. CSOs should be well-represented in these spaces as full partners.

·                Governments commit to putting in place, national AE legislation and policy, where absent

 

In reaffirming commitment to the critical role of adult education in development specifically in Asia and the Pacific, as well as in building alliances among kindred advocates, the participants also drew up concrete plans and next steps. Regionally coordinated action was agreed upon along the following key strategies and activities especially for CONFINTEA 6:

 

•          Accelerated efforts at constituency building – explore use of dialogues around the national reports for CONFINTEA 6

•          Engaging National Reports on CONFINTEA 6 or coming up with CSO shadow reports

•          Coordinated input to the Regional report for CONFINTEA 6 and GRALE through assessments/case studies/exemplars from CSO experiences and databases

•          Citizens reports around the GCE-Action Aid Benchmarks on Quality Adult Literacy; and in adult literacy financing

•          Media Campaign and mobilisations around Literacy Day, Global Action Week for adult literacy and adult education especially mobilising learners and their forums

•          Greater media engagement on adult literacy and adult education: highlight that Asia Pacific has largest numbers of adult illiterates; higher costs to society of adult illiteracy ; social benefits of literate/learning societies

•          Work towards ensuring credible CSO representatives form part of the government delegations to the CONFINTEA 6 Asia Pacific PrepCom in South Korea and in the CONFINTEA 6 Conference in Brazil

•          Coordinate closely with the National Task forces established in the LIFE countries in the region :  these are opportunities for CSOs to participate and influence the shaping of adult literacy policies and programmes within the LIFE mechanism, informed by lessons from their experience.

 

Finally the participants also resolved to engage more actively with each other and ASPBAE to develop synchronized campaign activities and action plans for their own countries based on the key demands and the next steps as outlined above. ASPBAE affirmed priority to sustaining an adult education campaign for CONFINTEA 6 and beyond.

 

 

 

3.- CONFINTEA VI

AONTAS

Niamh O Reilly
noreilly@aontas.com

Dear all

I would like to share with you the involvement of AONTAS in preparation for CONFINTEA VI.

1.      AONTAS Submission to Irish Department of Education and Science –  for National Report (28th April 2008)

2.      ICAE Virtual Seminar April 21 to May 9 (Berni Brady, 3 discussion pieces)

3.      Participation at ICAE Leicester Seminar 23rd and 24th May

4.      AONTAS membership mobilisation

a.      Website (international section) updated with information (ongoing)

b.      Explore Magazine article (9th and 10th edition) http://www.aontas.com/pubsandlinks/publications.html#periodicals

c.      Ebulletin  (monthly)

d.      Flyer for members as email (http://www.icae.org.uy/eng/aontasconfinteavi.pdf )

Meeting with important actors in the field (23rd July). Made connections with Regional Report author (Helen Keogh) for (Europe, N America and Israel) at this meeting.

Please visit http://www.icae.org.uy/eng/aontasconfinteavi.pdf  a flyer we will use for informing our membership about CONFINTEA VI. We plan to do this electronically, if you wish to amend it for your own use please do so then copy and paste into an email. We will update it continually with ICAE key issues at stake etc. It can be used as a template. Any other ideas welcomed. 

All the best from Ireland

Niamh

Niamh O'Reilly
Membership Development Officer
AONTAS (National Adult Learning Organisation)
2nd Floor, 83-87 Main Street, Ranelagh, Dublin 6, Ireland
Ph: + 353 1 4068220/1 Fax: + 353 1 4068227
 www.aontas.com
 Join AONTAS today
Nominate an adult learning project for a STAR Award!  Visit www.adultlearnersfestival.com

VOFO

Hello all,

The involvement of VOFO – The Norwegian Association for Adult Learning – con. Confintea etc. has so far been:

1.       The National report was progressed and made in cooperation with VOFO

2.       Participating at ICAE Leicester Seminar

3.       Preparatory and planning work for the ICAE Donor Country Meeting in Oslo 6th October

4.       Running contact with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affaires

5.       Contact with the Norwegian Board Member of UNESCO, Einar Stensnæs

6.       Planning a National Follow Up Conference of Confintea in autumn 2009

7.       Updating own website

.... but, unfortunately, not all this in English language…

All the best to all from a warm, sunny SummerOslo,

Sturla

Vennlig hilsen/Kind regards

Sturla Bjerkaker

VOKSENOPPLÆRINGSFORBUNDET/NORWEGIAN ASSOCIATION FOR ADULT LEARNING
Studieforbundenes interesseorganisasjon
Box 9339 Gronland
NO-0135 OSLO
Mobil: + 47 90606289

4.- NAVANETHEM PILLAY CONFIRMED AS NEW HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

 WUNRN
wunrn@whathelps.com

 The UN General Assembly has confirmed the appointment of Navanethem (Navi) Pillay, of South Africa, to succeed Louise Arbour as High Commissioner for Human Rights -- the leading UN human rights official. Ms. Pillay's four-year term will start on 1 September 2008.

Navanethem Pillay Confirmed as New High Commissioner for Human Rights

The United Nations General Assembly has confirmed the appointment of Navanethem (Navi) Pillay, of South Africa, to succeed Louise Arbour as High Commissioner for Human Rights -- the leading UN human rights official.

At a special meeting in New York on 28 July 2008, the Secretary-General's nominee was confirmed by consensus. Ms. Pillay's four-year term will start on 1 September 2008.

As a member of a non-white minority in apartheid South Africa, and as a front-line, grassroots lawyer who acted as a defense attorney for many anti-apartheid campaigners and trades unionists, Ms. Pillay has direct personal experience of many of the issues that a High Commissioner for Human Rights covers under her mandate. She has also been very active in supporting women's rights, and was one of the co-founders of the international NGO Equality Now, which campaigns for women's rights. She has also been involved with a number of other organizations working on issues relating to children, detainees, victims of torture, and of domestic violence as well as a range of other economic, social and cultural rights.

More recently, Ms. Pillay has served as a judge on two of the most important international criminal courts in the modern era, spending eight years with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, including four years as its President, and then the past five years on the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Both of these courts deal with the extreme end of the human rights spectrum -- war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and are at the cutting edge of the development of international law in these areas.

Judge Pillay will be the fifth UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to be appointed since the office was founded 15 years ago. She will head an organization that now has just under 1,000 staff working in 50 countries with a total annual budget of some US$ 150 million.

Biography
 Born: 1941
Place of Birth and Nationality: South Africa
Education: University of Natal (BA & LLB); Harvard University (Masters and Doctorate in human rights and international law )

Career
2003-2008 -- Appeals Division Judge, International Criminal Court in the Hague
1999-2003 -- President, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
1995-1999 -- Judge, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda 1995 -- Acting Judge, Supreme Court of South Africa
1995 -- Vice-President, University of Durban Westville
1985 -- Co-founded international women's rights group Equality Now
1980 -- Lecturer, University of KwaZulu-Natal
1967-1995 – Attorney and Conveyancer, High Court of South Africa
1967 -- First woman to start a law practice in Natal Province, South Africa. Defense attorney for many anti-apartheid activists.

 

 

 

5.- G8 communiqué

Global Campaign for Education
news@campaignforeducation.org

The G8 meeting earlier this month saw some progress towards meeting the education goals – with a pledge to fill the $1 billion financing gap on the Education Fast Track Initiative (FTI), and to review the FTI by the next G8.  If this pledge is fulfilled, it would lead to several million more children getting the chance to go to school. However previous G8 pledges on education were ignored afterwards so we now urgently need to see what each country will provide to that gap.

The communiqué, has also to our concern, removed a line that has been there for the last three years – that no country will not meet the education goals for lack of resources.  With ‘Education for All’ needing $16 billion a year ($13 billion of which is the G8’s fair share) and current aid averaging around $3 billion a year - the $1 billion pledged is less than 10% of the resources needed to keep their own promises of providing everyone with a quality education by 2015.

This leaves education campaigners the task of making sure the full finances for education become available as soon as possible, and convincing Italy to show some leadership on financing education at next year’s G8.

Read GCE’s verdict to the G8 communiqué, GCE’s blog from the G8

Read the G8 communiqué on Africa and Development (paragraphs 48 and 49 refer to education)

 

 

 

6.- Lifelong Learning in the South / Aprendizaje a lo largo de toda la vida en el Sur

 

Dear friends/ Estimad@s amig@s:

You may find the publication below useful for your work. It is available for free on the web, in English and Spanish. This was a study commissioned and published by Swedish Sida.
 Lifelong Learning: A New Momentum and a New Opportunity for Adult Basic Learning and Education (ABLE) in the South 
http://www.sida.se/sida/jsp/sida.jsp?d=118&a=2794&searchWords=torres
 http://www.sida.se/sida/jsp/sida.jsp?d=118&m=result&publicationSeries=1366
Sida (Swedish International Development Agency)
Stockholm, 2003
Esta publicación puede ser de interés para su trabajo. Está disponible en la web de manera gratuita, en inglés y en español. Fue un estudio encargado y publicado por ASDI (Cooperación sueca).
Aprendizaje a lo largo de toda la vida: Un nuevo momento y una nueva oportunidad para el aprendizaje y la educación básica de adultos (AEBA) en el Sur.
http://www.sida.se/sida/jsp/sida.jsp?d=118&a=2794&searchWords=torres
http://www.sida.se/sida/jsp/sida.jsp?d=118&m=result&publicationSeries=1366

IIZ-DVV, Bonn, 2003; ASDI, Estocolmo, 2004.

 

Rosa María Torres 
Fronesis
http://www.fronesis.org

 

7.- Defined the list of 10 action objectives for WSF 2009 participants

 

The local Facilitation Group and members of Methodology Commission met in Belem from July 10th to 12th to evaluate the answers to the consultation process and define the action objectives for WSF 2009 participants.

The Consultation about the WSF objectives was called by the WSF International Council in order to expand or adjust the current action objectives for 2009 event. All the activities (conferences, panels,

seminars, workshops and others) will be organized related to those objectives. See bellow the list of 10 action objectives for activities that will happen in Belem 2009 territory. In bold characters there are the additions made to the objectives defined to WSF 2007 in Nairobi (Kenya):

1. For the construction of a world of peace, justice, ethics and respect for different spiritualities, free of weapons, especially nuclear ones;

2. For the release of the world domain by capital, multinationals corporations, imperialist, patriarchal, colonial and neo-colonial domination and unequal systems of commerce, by canceling the impoverish countries debt;

3. For universal and sustainable access to the common property of mankind and nature, for the preservation of our planet and its resources, particularly water, forests and renewable energy sources;

4. For the democratization and independence of knowledge, culture and communication and for the creation of a system of shared knowledge and acquirement with the dismantling of Intellectual

Property Rights;

5. For the dignity, diversity, ensuring the equality of gender, race, ethnicity, generation, sexual orientation and elimination of all forms of discrimination and caste (discrimination based on descent);

6. 2. For ensurance (during the lifetime use of all people) of the economic, social, human, cultural and environmental rights, particularly the rights to food, health, education, housing, employment and

decent work, communication and food security and sovereignty;

7. For the construction of a world order based on sovereignty, self-determination and on people's rights, including minorities and migrants;

8. For the construction of a democratic, emancipator, sustainable and solidary economy, focused on every people and based on ethical and fair trade;

9. For the construction and expansion of truly local, national and global democratic political and economic structures and institutions, with the participation of people in decisions and control of

public affairs and resources;

10. For the defense of the environment (amazonic and others ecosystems) as source of life for the planet Earth and for the originary peoples of the world (indigenous, afro-descendent, tribal and

riverine), that demand their territories, languages, cultures, identities, environmental justice, spiritually and right to live.

 

For the WSF 2009 it will be possible to register self-managed activities outside the 10 action objectives, that propose an evaluation or outlook on the anti-globalization movements and the World

Social Forum process..

 

World Social Forum 2009

 

a) How to participate on World Social Forum 2009?

 

The registration process for WSF 2009 starts in mid-August and will be made only in the website www.fsm2009amazonia.org.br. The first moment will be dedicated to register self-managed activities. Regarding the WSF Charter of Principles, activities can only be proposed by organizations.

The second stage of registration process will attend individual participants and media.

 

b) Stands registration for WSF 2009.

 

A registration form dedicated Organizations willing to have a physical space for institutional stands, meeting points or campaign tents in WSF 2009 territory is already available for download.

The stands requests should be sent until October 10th. The requests will be submitted to the WSF 2009 Facilitation Group and reservations are subjected to physical space availability. More information

about stand reservation process is available in the registration form.

 

Stands registration form:

- PDF version:

http://www.fsm2009amazonia.org.br/downloads/Registration_estandes_EN.pdf

- DOC version:

http://www.fsm2009amazonia.org.br/downloads/Registration_estandes_EN.doc

 

c) Note about accommodation in Belem during the WSF 2009

 

The Facilitation Group in Belem is taking a series of initiatives to attend the several requests that are already coming concerning participants accommodation during the World Social Forum 2009.

A form to request solidarity accommodation - family and alternative - will be available in mid-August, in the website www.fsm2009amazonia.org.br.

The alternative accommodation consists on schools, gymnasiums, religious and other organizations that will offer their spaces to WSF participants. The other modality of solidarity accommodation consists in local family's houses.

The solidarity accommodation costs can vary from zero to R$25,00 (about 15 US dollars). More details about accommodation options and how to request solidarity accommodation will be sent soon.

Concerning the standard accommodation, the Facilitation Group would like to inform that due to the reduced number of beds, Belem hotels are charging abusive prices - around 4 or 5 times more than the usual.

The Facilitation Group also would like to inform that there's no official travel agency for the WSF. Standard accommodation should be discussed directly by the participants organizations and the hotels in Belem, or using the travel agencies that the organizations are used to work with.

 

 

 

8.- Convocatoria para recibir artículos: género y educación

http://www.awid.org/esl/Mujeres-en-Accion/Pedido-de-Participacion2/Convocatoria-para-recibir-articulos-genero-y-educacion

Tema: Género en educación. Revista Mexicana de Investigación Educativa. Número 42, julio-septiembre de 2009. Fecha límite para envío de textos: 2 de febrero de 2009

Coordinadora de la sección temática: Rosa María González Jiménez
Investigadora de la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional

En los últimos diez años el término género ha llegado a popularizarse entre políticos, medios de comunicación y buena parte de la población en México, quienes en general lo utilizan con una tremenda vaguedad conceptual (se asocia con mujeres; mujeres y poder; derechos de las mujeres).

Desde la década de los ochenta del siglo XX en la mayoría de las instituciones de educación superior de América Latina se instauran, primero, los estudios de la mujer (cuyo objeto son las mujeres), y después los estudios de género (problematizando el ser mujer u hombre como derivación biológica o esencia ontológica, utilizando la categoría de género como una construcción social). En la investigación, la categoría género ha demostrado su potencia para el análisis de diversos fenómenos
sociales, psicológicos, culturales e históricos.
Si bien la investigación en el campo de los estudios de género en educación donde confluyen diversas disciplinas, objetos de estudio y enfoques teórico-metodológicos muestra una vigorosa presencia en los eventos académicos, estamos lejos de habernos constituido en una comunidad epistémica.

Al igual que en otros países de la región, desde mediados de la década de los noventa, en México se ha incorporado la equidad de género como política educativa, incluyendo el tema en los programas de estudio de educación básica, media y superior (como contenido, materia o tema transversal).
Estos cambios curriculares, no han tenido del todo sus partes homólogas en materia de reflexión e investigación.

Por otra parte, los patrones de comportamiento de hombres y mujeres han cambiado considerablemente en las últimas décadas, donde la educación tiene en un sentido amplio un papel protagónico a través de la educación familiar, la televisión y otras instituciones sociales, cambios que difieren de acuerdo con el contexto (urbano-rural), el nivel socioeconómico y la identidad cultural de los sujetos y comunidades.

Por las razones antes expresadas, en esta sección temática de la RMIE se convoca a presentar investigaciones originales en estudios de género en educación. La publicación pretende conjugar reflexión, crítica y diálogo nacional y latinoamericano.
Temas de interés específico:

·                       Las teorías de género y la educación: un campo de estudio en

·                       construcción

·                       Políticas en materia de género y educación: incidencia en las prácticas

·                       escolares

·                       Escolarización; los vínculos entre clase social, género, etnia y raza

·                       Tipificación sexual por áreas de conocimiento (ciencia, matemáticas y

·                       tecnología).

·                       Masculinidades y escuela

·                       Formación docente en estudios de género

·                       Feminización docente

·                       Género en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje

·                       Violencia de género en la escuela


Se aceptan sólo trabajos inéditos. Cada artículo será dictaminado en dos etapas, primero por el Comité Editorial, después por especialistas externos de manera doblemente ciega. Es importante tomar en cuenta el Protocolo para colaboradores
(Versión impresa o en http://www.comie.org.mx/RMIE/ ).
rosamaria@laneta.apc.org