An international conference on "The Right to Education in the Context of Migration and Integration" was held in Bonn, Germany, on 15-16 November 2007. It was conducted by DVV International, together with the International Council for Adult Education (ICAE), the European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA) and the German Adult Education Association (DVV), with the support of several German Government Ministries, TELC (The European Language Certificates Company) and the Voice of Germany (Deutsche Welle) .
Over 200 participants from some 60 countries, in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America discussed how to humanize migration and to offer support through education. Besides the exchange of views on the links between migration, adult education and development cooperation, drawing on experience in these different countries, another aim of the conference was to find new partners for cooperation and to foster transnational partnerships.
There were three forums, each with three workshops:
Given the wealth of contributions, it was not easy to make a selection. We have put together some of the papers reporting on experiences in countries of the so-called "Third World" .
We begin with the Statement adopted at the conference. The main speaker on the opening day was Bashy Quraishy of the European Network against Racism, whose speech on "Migration, Integration and the Role of Education" is printed next. The other main speech on "Adult Education: Migration and Integration from an International Perspective" could unfortunately not be given by the author herself, Maria Angela C. Villalba, because she was not granted a visa to enter the Federal Republic of Germany. Her place was taken by Maria Lourdes-Kahn, General Secretary of ASPBAE. These papers are followed by examples from Zambia, South Africa, China and Colombia. The section is completed by a contribution by Hans-Dietrich Lehmann, representing the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, our funding ministry.
Opening Ceremony
Source: Hans Pollinger
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