Between March and June 2020, UIL hosted a series of webinars to explore how learning cities gauged the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in individual contexts, and how they were responding to the sudden, emergent and urgent challenges it posed. In this publication, we present 13 responses by learning cities to this unfolding global issue across five themes: city planning; continuation of education; culture; equity and inclusion; and public health. These snapshots span the world regions of Africa (Cameroon), Asia and the Pacific (China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Korea),...

Approximately 11 million people are in prisons worldwide, a number that is constantly growing. Many prisons are overcrowded and at crisis point, unable to provide education – a fundamental human right to which all prisoners should have access. To identify current trends, progress and challenges in prison education at a global level, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) has published Education in prison: A literature review .

The publication recognizes the variety of understandings of the concept...

The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) has launched a new publication, Integrated Approaches to Literacy and Skills Development: Examples of Best Practice in Adult Learning Programmes . This new compilation showcases 21 adult education programmes that demonstrate promising approaches to integrating literacy, life skills and vocational skills in various country contexts around the world.

Such integrated approaches have great potential to enhance the relevance and quality of adult education programmes and increase adult learners’ motivation in enrolling in such...

Educators are key to quality adult learning and education. Yet, a lack of professional adult educators still hinders progress towards the provision of lifelong learning opportunities in many countries around the world.

Curriculum globALE supports the professionalization of adult educators. By providing cross-curricular approaches, it is a unique reference framework for the training of adult educators which can easily be contextualized to national and regional environments.

By supporting adult educators around the world, Curriculum globALE improves not only the standard of...

The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) 2020 Virtual Annual Report demonstrates how the Institute rose to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, devising innovative and creative ways of reinforcing the provision of lifelong learning opportunities for all, despite the harsh environment.

In 2020, UIL worked with the 229 members of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities to integrate lifelong learning into...

In almost one-third of countries, fewer than 5 per cent of adults aged 15 and above participate in education and learning programmes, according to UNESCO’s fourth Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE 4). Adults with disabilities, older adults, refugees and migrants, minority groups and other disadvantaged segments of society are particularly under-represented in adult education programmes and find themselves deprived of crucial access to lifelong learning opportunities. GRALE 4 monitors the extent to which UNESCO Member States put their international commitments regarding...

The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has disrupted education provision all over the world, including adult learning and education (ALE). In August 2020, a United Nations Policy Brief, Education during COVID-19 and beyond, indicated that an estimated 40 per cent of the poorest countries failed to support learners at risk during the COVID-19 crisis, and that past experiences show that both education and gender inequalities tend to be neglected in responses to disease outbreaks. Furthermore, over 11 million girls and women – from pre-primary to tertiary education – may not return to school in 2020....

The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) has just published Référentiel de compétences harmonisé , a report on the competency framework developed for RAMAA (Action Research: Measuring Literacy Programme Participants’ Learning Outcomes). The aim of RAMAA is to build the capacities of 12 French-speaking African countries to evaluate and monitor the quality of literacy programmes.

Developed by specialists in the region with UIL’s technical assistance, the reference framework provides a common tool for the 12 RAMAA countries, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon,...

A new UNESCO issue note , produced by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), aims to support education policy-makers and planners in utilizing the power of non-formal and informal learning to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. It explains lessons learned and suggests concrete measures for action.

In almost all countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, cities are the epicentres of infection and the frontlines for dealing with the vast...

Based on GRALE 4 and the data collected from 18 Arab states, this regional report assesses the status of adult learning and education (ALE) in the region, with a focus on participation from the perspective of equity and inclusion. The report shows that ALE has progressed in the region since 2015, in particular in the area of policy, governance and participation. However, challenges with regard to policy implementation, the inclusion of vulnerable groups, quality and funding persist.

The region has reported remarkable progress in increasing women’s participation between...