Stories

Uwe Gartenschlaeger, Deputy Director of DVV International, reflects on the implications of the corona pandemic on adult learning and education (ALE) around the world but also highlights the potential of ALE in giving answers to the societal challenges arising from this crisis.

The International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA), a UNESCO-led intergovernmental conference, is an important platform for policy dialogue, as well as for related research and advocacy in the development of youth and adult learning and education (ALE). The next Conference is scheduled for 2022 in Morocco. Werner Mauch from UIL gives an update on the process towards CONFINTEA VII.

The Turkish association beraberce has been running the “Hatırla! Remember!” project in partnership with the Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association (DVV International) since 2019.

The project aims to take a multi-perspective look at and exert an influence on the Turkish culture of remembrance through international and intra-Turkish exchange. Due to the corona pandemic, the project had to be redesigned.

Up to ten public organisations in the Gomel region are conducting programmes in correctional facilities. Not all NGOs are willing to work with this target group. Having said that, and whilst it was practically impossible only ten years ago for NGOs in Belarus to initiate educational activities in correctional facilities, the situation is gradually changing today.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had severe implications for adult learning and education, in common with many other sectors. DVV International has put a considerable effort into supporting adult education providers and learners in its country and regional offices. In Uzbekistan, DVV International organised a distance marathon contest entitled “Adult Education vs. COVID-19”. The main goal of the marathon has been to increase the motivation of adult education providers, representatives of civil society and individual artists in anti-crisis efforts, and to support their ideas aimed at mitigating the negative impact of the pandemic.

A lack of education and illiteracy are urgent problems in Afghanistan, especially for women. For this reason, the Afghan National Association for Adult Education (ANAFAE), an umbrella organisation founded in 2005 together with DVV International to promote the development of local adult education centres, attaches especial importance to enabling women in particular to attend literacy courses. The skills associated with learning to read, write and do arithmetic enable them to enjoy greater freedom and independence.