I have been following closely the deliberations and contestations at the United Nations Climate Change Conference ongoing in Copenhagen, Denmark. Like many activists and Africans I have been elated by the stance of African countries and other developing nations against a unilateral pollution emissions framework being imposed by rich, industrialised and polluting nations.

Of course, the position of these nations in global forums is but a continuum of the Malthusian logic and associated racists, imperialist, and sexist theories, which seek to blame the poor, and particularly women, for every vice associated with pollution, degradation, and exploitation, an outlook which feminists decried in respect to population policies that were in the past linked to questions of poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability.

At the same time, I am bewildered that a similar reaction was not forthcoming from African governments during the recently concluded Sixth International Conference of Adult Education, CONFINTEA VI, held in Belém, Brazil from December 1-3, 2009. For one, I am surprised that African governments to a large extent chose not to send high powered delegations to Belém with a clear mandate while they have ensured that delegations attending the Climate Conference in Copenhagen are adequately resourced and empowered to move icebergs and act with one voice, unusual for a continent still suffering from the vestiges of divide and rule colonial polices.

Indeed the issues in contention at Belém were very similar to the issues in Copenhagen but the responses they evoked are starkly different. Significantly, the level at which CONFINTEA VI was reduced is appreciated by the sparse coverage in the international media, unlike the continuous live updates of Copenhagen. In the end CONFINTEA VI seemed to be of interest only to the hosting nation, Brazil as well as the activists, actors, community of learners and organizers of the conference, not of the world. Admittedly it would be unfair if I did not acknowledge the presence of a Pan-African media feature service busy documenting the different perspectives of African women and men at CONFINTEA VI.

For those who may be unfamiliar with the not so sexy or trendy CONFINTEA, it is a UNESCO Category II Intergovernmental Conference, thus squarely in the UN family genres of meetings. We owe our expanding right to education and learning to this advocacy platform. Indeed, Adult Education comprehensively conceived comprises social, economic, ecological and cultural dimensions. Appropriately CONFINTEA VI’s theme was ‘Harnessing the power and potential of adult learning and education for a viable future’. The question for Africans during the conference and beyond is whether our governments recognise this connection not only in rhetoric but also in action.

The main themes explored during the conference include Adult Education policies, structures and financing; inclusion and participation; the quality of adult learning and education; literacy and other key competencies; and poverty eradication. The overall thrust of CONFINTEA VI was to draw attention to the relation and contribution of adult learning and education to sustainable development, and it is a linkage which at the end of the day only civil society organisations seem to remember as eloquently argued by the President of the International Council of Adult Education, Paul Belanger, in his key note address on the last day of the conference.

Civil society organisations are important players in the promotion and delivery of the right to learn and education in Africa as well as in other parts of the world. The diverse ways in which learning takes place is captured in the different interventions carried out by community based organisations and actors. In many respects they implement or complement government policies in this severely under funded and under prioritised sector. Thus while adult education and learning constitutes a government obligation, it is dependant on civil society partnership to effect a fact that is underplayed.

The first ever Global Report on Adult Learning and Education published by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning based on 154 national reports submitted by member states on the state of adult learning and education finds that progress has been unsatisfactory in relation to Education for All (EFA) Goals related to adult learning and education. Other than being rendered marginal, the learning needs of young people and adults in most African countries go unmet, with more attention being put on primary education and formal learning, a situation that is described as unsustainable.

Women at CONFINTEA, represented by the Women’s Caucus, took issue with the weak gender architecture in the frameworks considering the cross cutting nature of gender inequalities in the sector as well as in human relations. The African Platform on Adult Education made a similar case during the African Regional Meeting for CONFINTEA VI that the face of illiteracy in Africa is a woman’s face. The largest group of illiterate youths and adults in Africa are women without exception. Gender bias is also evident in education and learning opportunities as well as the content and form of literature and learning aids.

To change the situation, activists made a case for increased financing for adult education and learning initiatives within national budgets. It is a demand that fell on deaf ears as African governments resisted incorporating the 6 per cent targeted for education budget allocation, citing budgetary constraints. Another issue of contention concerned the right to education and especially adult education being made justiciable to compel governments to guarantee the same as an essential element in the development of a civically competent citizen. Civil Society Organisations called for an expanded definition of literacy beyond the ability to read and write. Rather they linked it to the ability to manage the myriad crises befalling human kind – climatic, wars, financial, food insecurity, governance, energy and the like – and is, therefore, intimately linked with building the skills of adult learners to fathom and adapt to new livelihood challenges.

More than anything communities of learners and stakeholders of adult learning and education wanted a clear commitment towards action of commitments made in past CONFINTEAs and related conferences in view of the miniscule progress made towards realising the right to education generally and adult education and learning specifically. Instead the language of the Belém Framework for Action was heavily contested diluting its tone and missing the opportunity to move towards clear commitment and action as originally envisaged by conference organisers and interested parties.

Of course, the process in which global conferences are organised and conducted raise a lot of issues with regards transparency and participation. The ‘behind closed doors tradition’ is a characteristic of high-level discussions as is the tradition of listening to and engaging governments and not the people they represent. Unlike in Copenhagen, however, civil society organisations had the opportunity, first at the civil society conference (FISC) and during earlier regional conferences, to ensure that a representative and relevant framework was produced. However, the political interests of powerful countries and the weak negotiation skills of developing countries put in jeopardy the trust and cooperation that had been built in the build-up to the CONFINTEA VI process.

Fundamentally, the outcomes that are expected of CONFINTEA VI, Copenhagen and similar forums will continue to be elusive if the following two factors are not considered. First, is the long standing feminist demand call for the reformulation of key global governance structures to make them relevant and accountable to global citizens, not just imperial and financial interests. Secondly, is challenging the neo liberal economic structures that currently underpin and skew development paradigms, compromising human security in its widest sense with market gains.

I want to end by urging African governments to maintain and further the spirit demonstrated in Copenhagen but, in doing so, to bear the following in mind. First, that they cease to approach civil society actors as foes but consider them as real partners (at least better than investors and greedy developed nations) to overcoming development challenges in their respective midst. Secondly, that they appreciate that their experience and frustration in Copenhagen in asking for more funds, greater commitment, more even participation, better governance and monitoring mechanisms constitute the demand made by CSOs to them in Belém as well as in other foras.

A Swahili proverb warns: ‘The shoe does not only hurt when it is on somebody else’s foot’. Another cautions: ‘When your neighbour is being shaved, wet your head!’ Surely, our continent is being hurt by massive ignorance, illiteracy and poor governance. For Africans, the regional CONFINTEA meeting’s motto ‘The power of youth and adult learning for African development’ needs to become reality in view of the fact that adult education and learning is a basis for building strong, vibrant, engaged, active and free citizens, able to realise the renascence vision for Africa championed, at least in spirit, by the African Union and the wave of democratisation sweeping African communities across the continent.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* © Salma Maoulidi
* Salma Maoulidi is a member of the Gender and Education Office of the International Council of Adult Education, member of Femnet a Pan African Women’s Advocacy Network and member of Sahiba Sisters Foundation, a community of women’s learners operating in 13 regions of Tanzania.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News.

* Our thanks to GADO for permission to use his wonderful cartoons.

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