Global Report - GRALE

Published every three years, UNESCO’s Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE) monitors developments in adult learning and education in all world regions. It is a key instrument for policy advice, advocacy and monitoring progress in Member States with regard to the recommendations adopted by the Sixth International Conference on Adult Learning and Education (CONFINTEA VI) in the Belém Framework for Action (BFA). It complements UNESCO’s Education for All Global Monitoring Report, which monitors progress achieved by the global Education for All initiative, particularly with respect to the six major education goals laid down in the Dakar Framework for Action.

Global report publication

The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) coordinates data collection and manages the publication of the Global Report on Adult Learning and Education. The chief objective is to inform the global education community about progress made in implementing the Belém Framework for Action, the outcome document of CONFINTEA VI.
UNESCO Member States are asked to produce regular national reports on the state of adult learning and education. GRALE presents a synthesis of these reports with a view to providing data on the implementation of the BFA. These data are also used to report on the implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Development of Adult Education (1976), and its new revised version, the UNESCO Recommendation on Adult Learning and Education (2015). Here too, the aim is to provide evidence on the state of adult learning and education worldwide.

Adult learning monitoring

Two reports (GRALE I and GRALE II) have been published since 2009. The third report, GRALE III, will continue the monitoring exercise, focusing on the benefits of adult learning and education for health and well-being, local community and society, and employment and the labour market.
GRALE is produced by an international team that includes representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in cooperation with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS).
The Third Global Report on Adult Learning and Education includes a chapter on the implementation and monitoring of the Belém Framework for Action, which will cover the five areas of policy; governance; participation, equity and inclusion; financing; and quality. In addition, there will be a chapter each on health and well-being; local community and society; and employment and the labour market. The overall purpose of all of these chapters is to document the returns on investment in adult learning and education.