This means goodbye, au revoir, adios, do svidania!
Today, following 11 years in office, is my last day as Director of UIL. After almost 30 years devoted to UNESCO, most of the period exclusively to UIE and UIL, I am retiring at the end of this month. On this occasion I would like to recall the history of the Institute, which builds on the knowledge and wisdom of many outstanding educationists.
Maria Montessori and Jean Piaget were founding members of UIL’s forerunner, the UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE). In its early years the UIE contributed greatly to international understanding among nations and people who had few opportunities to meet and exchange with each other. The forerunner of all international achievement studies, the “International Evaluation of Educational Achievement” (IEA), was carried out at UIE between 1959 and 1961. In 1972, with the publication of the “Faure report”, Learning to be, lifelong education became the focus of the Institute’s work and publications on the concept, content and evaluation of lifelong education were brought out in the landmark series “Advances in Lifelong Education”. UIE was the first institution to address literacy and functional illiteracy in industrialized countries. It built its international reputation with its activities on post-literacy, continuing education and the literate environment.
The Institute has a strong record in many themes that are highly relevant today: literacy, adult education, non-formal education, evaluation, multi-lingualism and inter-generational learning. It publishes the oldest international journal of comparative education, the International Review of Education. It relies on the intellectual and spiritual wisdom of personalities such as Paulo Freire, Gottfried Hausmann, Paul Lengrand and Bogdan Suchodolski, who were all friends and supporters of the Institute. I was always proud to meet them, to learn from them and to work in the tradition of their vision. I would also like to acknowledge the special contribution to the growth and credibility of UIE by my two predecessors, under whom I worked and from whom I learned greatly. Ravindra Dave (India), who personally negotiated my secondment to UIE from the Government of Mali, increased considerably UIE’s visibility and international relevance to UNESCO and its Member States. Paul Bélanger (Canada) was the strategist and great architect of UIE’s turning point and the shifts of the 1990s who masterminded CONFINTEA V.
When I joined UIE in 1982, Mr Mahtar M’Bow was Director-General of UNESCO. His successor, Mr Federico Mayor, appointed me as Senior Programme Specialist at UIE and HQ in 1992, and later Director of UIL in 2000. After the transformation of UIE into UIL, I was confirmed as Director by Mr KoÏchiro Matsuura, the then Director-General of UNESCO in 2006. Last year (2010) after I reached the statutory retirement age, the new Director-General – the first female – Ms Irina Bokova, extended my term to organise the transition at UIL. I owe all of them special thanks and gratitude for their guidance and for the confidence that they have shown in me.
I would like to thank all friends, colleagues and partners inside and outside UNESCO, in UNESCO Member States and the skillful and dedicated UIL staff for their cooperation in the hard and creative work throughout the years, especially during the difficult times after 2000 when the Institute faced a severe financial crisis and its very existence was under threat. Many people around the world supported us and helped to bring the Institute back onto firm ground. The decisive role in this transformation was played by the UIL Governing Board which always consisted of outstanding, committed personalities and which was skillfully, efficiently and wisely chaired over the years. Mr Justin Ellis (Namibia), Mr Anders Falk (Sweden) and Prof. Suzy Halimi (France) deserve special mention, and I give my heartfelt gratitude to all Board Members.
In 2007, through a joint effort by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and UNESCO – and thanks to generous voluntary grants from a range of governments and partners – UIE was transformed into a fully-fledged international Institute with a new name that much better reflected its vision, tradition and mandate. That was a high-point of my time as Director of the Institute.
I will remember my association with the landmark series of international conferences on adult education (CONFINTEA). Indeed, I participated in CONFINTEA IV in 1985. I played a much greater role as HQ focal point and key organiser of CONFINTEA V in 1997. This culminated in my election as Secretary-General of the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI). I have enjoyed the related preparatory and follow-up work that is helping to keep adult education and lifelong learning on the agenda of Member States and strengthening the worldwide adult education movement and community. Many activities initiated by UIE and UIL have contributed substantially to the acknowledgment of the important role of lifelong learning in building a sustainable and socially-cohesive future in times of rapid change.
I personally strongly believe in the importance of lifelong learning for individuals and societies and in equal access to learning opportunities for all. I believe that UIL – and its cause to promote lifelong learning as an integral part of educational policies in all countries of the world – is as relevant as ever. I wish my successor Arne Carlsen and UIL’s staff and partners all the best in that endeavor, and I am confident that they will push forward with greater determination and creativity the universal recognition of the importance of lifelong learning and the full exercise of the right to education by all.
