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Global Inventory of Regional and National Qualifications Frameworks 2017, Vol. II: National and Regional Cases Year of publication: 2017 Corporate author: European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) | European Training Foundation (ETF) | UNESCO | UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) The global inventory 2017 further strengthens the knowledge base on developments in national and regional qualifications frameworks, as implemented by countries and regions, by end of 2016. It acts as an observatory of progress in establishing NQFs, as well as the challenges and success factors in implementation. The thematic chapters (Volume I) discuss key trends and policy issues emerging from qualifications frameworks and learning outcomes reforms and developments. Volume II consists of NQF case studies of 100 countries from all continents and seven regional qualifications frameworks (RQF). The case studies look at the educational, social, economic and political context in which an NQF is embedded, main policy objectives, implementation of learning outcomes, stakeholder involvement and institutional arrangements. They also show how NQFs open for and link to validation arrangements, support recognition and learning pathways. They conclude with important lessons and future plans.The global inventory draws on inventories from four agencies: the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), the European Training Foundation (ETF), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), working and communicating with country officials and experts. It also draws on extensive international research in qualifications reforms, comparability of qualifications, and use of learning outcomes. 
Promoting Lifelong Learning for All: The Experiences of Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda and the United Republic of Tanzania Year of publication: 2018 Corporate author: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) This report is an outcome of a project supporting the promotion of lifelong learning for all in selected African countries. The project aims to increase the capacity of policy-makers and researchers to develop national policies and strategies that will establish lifelong learning systems in Africa, ultimately contributing to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.This publication showcases the advancements made by five African countries in promoting and implementing lifelong learning as per the recommendations outlined in Key Issues and Policy Considerations in Promoting Lifelong Learning in Selected African Countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda and Tanzania (UIL, 2014). This continuous assessment and review of the countries’ progress can help monitor the reforms and developments taking place, and can contribute to the sharing of promising practices. The four main sections of the report include an introduction with the background to and methodology of the study; the origin, essence and benefits of lifelong learning; a compendium of good practices in promoting lifelong learning for all; and a conclusion comprising reflections on how progress can be accelerated in the region as well as potential collaboration opportunities with the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL).Attempts to implement lifelong learning concepts in the five African countries has seen mixed results, but advancements are being made. It is hoped that this synthesis report will help foster the exchange of successful practices among the countries and the further development of lifelong learning policies and strategies across the African continent. 
CONFINTEA VI Mid-Term Review: Report of the Conference Year of publication: 2017 Author: Clinton Robinson Corporate author: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) The Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI), held in Brazil in 2009, closed with the adoption of the Belem Framework for Action (BFA), which recorded the commitments of Member States and presented a strategic guide for the global development of adult learning and education. The third Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE 3), published in 2016, drew on survey data to evaluate progress made by countries in fulfilling the commitments made in Brazil.The CONFINTEA VI Mid-Term Review, held in Suwon, Republic of Korea, in October 2017, took stock of progress made by Member States in the past eight years, looking ahead to GRALE 4 in 2019 and CONFINTEA VII in 2021.This report summarizes the discussions that animated the Mid-Term Review conference and gives readers a brief survey of the key issues concerning progress against the BFA, across all world regions. 
Lifelong Learning in Transformation: Promising Practices in Southeast Asia Year of publication: 2017 Author: Rika Yorozu Corporate author: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) This report is an outcome of a project on building a lifelong learning agenda in Southeast Asian countries, which aims to address the region’s remaining educational challenges in ensuring ‘inclusive and equitable quality education and promot[ing] lifelong learning opportunities for all’ (Goal 4 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development). By sharing promising policies and practices in implementing integrated lifelong learning from different perspectives, countries can learn from one another and move their visions for lifelong learning fully into practice. The publication documents a variety of promising practices from 11 countries, focusing particularly on the features critical to the promotion of lifelong learning for all; namely, inclusive and gender-responsive teaching and learning practices, recognition of learning outcomes from non-formal and informal learning, collaboration between social and economic development sectors and coherent national government policies and strategies. The report comprises three main sections: a reflection on lifelong learning in international and national documents, a collection of good practice drawn from their national reports, and a set of recommendations for policies and programmes promoting lifelong learning. It is hoped that these recommendations will stimulate discussion and new developments, in both policy and practice, in the region. 
Fostering a culture of reading and writing: examples of dynamic literate environments Year of publication: 2017 Author: Hanemann, Ulrike | Krolak, Lisa Corporate author: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) The examples of literacy programmes showcased and analysed in this publication confirm the critical role of literate environments. They have been selected from UNESCO’s Effective Literacy and Numeracy Practises Database (LitBase), which UIL develops on a continuous basis. They demonstrate first and foremost how the development of literate environments can positively influence people’s motivation to (re-)engage in literacy and learning and how they can practise their newly acquired skills in their daily activities to reach sustainable skills levels. In addition, they reveal successful strategies towards a culture of reading, writing and learning in the family, community or wider society. The examples reflect different contexts, such as families, libraries and prisons, to illustrate the potential of ICTs, intergenerational approaches, and community, mobile and prison libraries to engage young people and adults in literacy and learning. 
Transforming our world: literacy for sustainable development Year of publication: 2015 Author: Ulrike Hanemann | Cassandra Scarpino Corporate author: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) This compilation offers global examples of innovative and promising literacy and numeracy programmes that link the teaching and learning of literacy to sustainable development challenges such as health, social equality, economic empowerment and environmental sustainability. This publication is a timely contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which promotes the engagement of stakeholders to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.’ 
4th Global Report on Adult Learning and Education: Leave No One Behind: Participation, Equity and Inclusion Year of publication: 2019 Corporate author: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) This report demonstrates the important role participation in adult learning and education can play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, highlights the distance we have to travel, and offers clear guidance on how to move forward. As the report clearly also shows, it is only by prioritizing ALE, and rebalancing resources accordingly, that can we ensure that the commitment of the 2030 Agenda to ‘leave no one behind’ in the pursuit of equitable, inclusive and sustainable development is fully and fairly realized. 
Communities in action: lifelong learning for sustainable Year of publication: 2015 Author: Fumiko Noguchi | Jose Roberto Guevara | Rika Yorozu Corporate author: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) This handbook identifies principles and policy mechanisms to advance community-based learning for sustainable development based on the commitments endorsed by the participants of the Kominkan-CLC International Conference on Education for Sustainable Development, which was in Okayama City, Japan, in October 2014. To inform policymakers and practitioners new to this field, the handbook clarifies the international vision and goals for sustainable development and Education for Sustainable Development, and identifies the potential contributions of community-based learning centres and organizations. It documents both policy and practice from different regions and concludes with a summary of principles and policy support mechanisms. 
Literacy and education for sustainable development and women's empowerment Year of publication: 2014 Author: Anna Robinson-Pant Corporate author: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) The fact that women constitute two-thirds of the world’s non-literate population has been a cause for concern for several decades now. Despite a number of high-profile literacy interventions specifically targeting women – including UNESCO’s LIFE initiative – the disparity between male and female literacy rates persists in many countries of the world (UIL, 2013). This starting point for thinking about women’s literacy has however often led to a narrow focus on literacy access and outcomes. Whilst educational policy makers and planners have attempted to identify and overcome barriers to women’s participation, researchers have directed their attention to measuring the social and economic benefits of women’s literacy (see Robinson-Pant, 2004). Statistical correlations have been presented as evidence of the impact of women’s literacy: for instance, in Pakistan, women with a high level of literacy earned 95% more than women with no literacy skills yet there was only a 33% differential amongst men (UNESCO 2012: 196).Barriers to participation have been analysed in terms of structural (timing, location, women-only versus mixed gender) and social (marriage, poverty, language hierarchies) factors (see Ballara 1991). Within such analysis however, little attention has been given to the social processes associated with literacy learning and development. By contrast, this paper sets out to take a wider lens on literacy in order to explore not only ‘what works’ in practical terms of encouraging women to participate programmes, but also to look at how and why literacy programmes can contribute to sustainable development and processes of empowerment. Taking this perspective on women’s literacy involves asking alternative questions from the more usual ‘how can we make more women literate?’ Approaching literacy through the lens of sustainable development and women’s empowerment means that we develop a more nuanced understanding of how different kinds of literacy emerge from or support different development approaches and how women engage with such processes of change.How is literacy related to sustainable development programmes? What does empowerment mean to different women in different situations? What kind of research evidence and knowledge are literacy programmes and policy building on? How can adult learning facilitate economic, social and environmental change? These larger questions will guide the conceptual exploration of sustainable development, women’s empowerment and literacy, as well as the review of literacy programmes presented in this paper. The starting assumption is that only by looking in depth at the processes of literacy learning and development practice can we begin to address the challenge of narrowing the gender gap in literacy attainment. 
Towards CONFINTEA VII: adult learning and education and the 2030 Agenda Year of publication: 2019 Corporate author: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) The CONFINTEA VI Mid-Term Review (MTR) Conference took place in Suwon and Osan, Republic of Korea, in October 2017. Stakeholders from 95 UNESCO Member States assessed progress in implementing the Belém Framework for Action (BFA) and discussed the next steps. The BFA, which was adopted by delegates at the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI) in Belém, Brazil, in December 2009, records the commitments of Member States and presents a strategic guide for the future development of adult learning and education (ALE) within the perspective of lifelong learning. This publication constitutes the third outcome document of the conference. It provides an overview of the main thematic debates. The chapters follow the conference themes and aim to illustrate or underpin the main arguments and way forward set out in the Suwon-Osan Statement.