Thank you very much, Mr. Jean-Marie Bilcataria, Professor Rosamie Milkey, Vice President of
the University of Hamburg, distinguished panelists, ministers, ladies and gentlemen. For me, it's
a big honor to be here in the University of Hamburg on the occasion of the 60th anniversary
of UNESCO's Institute for Lifelong Learning. And let me start by expressing my deep gratitude
to the University for its support, long-standing support to the Institute's work. I'm pleased to
be part of this debate, which is about responding to global challenges through lifelong learning,
a topic very dear to the heart of UNESCO. We need every opportunity today for debate,
because we know that the world is changing quickly. Globalization is opening new opportunities
for exchange, for learning, and for sharing knowledge. Challenges are equally fast. Societies
everywhere face rising pressures from the impact of climate change, from combined economic, food,
environmental and energy crisis. Inequalities are deepening between societies and within them,
resulting in exclusion and eroding social cohesion. This is happening at a time of deepening
interdependence between countries, leading to challenges in global patterns of power. Young
people are often the greatest leaders of change, and we saw that during the Arab Spring. They carry
also its heaviest burden in the shape sometimes of poor access to health care, education and
employment. Tackling these challenges calls for new thinking about the meaning of progress. It
calls for a new vision of human capacity and sustainability, something that I'm obviously
called new humanism, and I'm very happy that this later on, Madam Halimi, will focus on that.
We must act now to set the world on a better path for the century ahead. The opportunities
are there. As our director, Arne Carlson, just mentioned, sometimes we speak about challenges,
but we should focus also on opportunities, and we know that they're there. We have just returned
from the third International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education and Training that UNESCO
held in Shanghai, China, jointly with OECD and the International Labour Organization and the
Government of China, of course. This was, I would say, a milestone for crafting a new
TVET for the 21st century. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development will be
held in Rio de Janeiro next month. Rio Plus 20, as we call it, offers, I would say, a unique
opportunity to reset development and laid the foundations for the future sustainable development
in the next 10 to 20 years, and also for green economies and for societies. This will be important
for setting a new global agenda to follow 2015, the deadline for the millennium development goals
and the objectives of education for all. So now is the time to define a new vision for the future.
Education and lifelong learning must be its cornerstone. This is a deep conviction of UNESCO.
Education is a human right that is essential for the dignity of women and men, but it is also the
motor for sustainable development. It widens opportunities for individuals and communities. It
is a force for the empowerment of girls and women. It saves lives through more effective health care.
It increases productivity across all sectors, including agriculture. It is the way to foster
the skills for greater sustainability. Since the year 2000, many countries have made fast progress
in expanding opportunities for formal basic education. This shows what can happen when
political will is married with resources. But we know this is not enough. It is not
enough to refer to enrollment numbers in schools. We must examine the quality of education, its
relevance and its equity. We must assess its ability to unlock the creativity and innovation
we need for the century ahead. This is the importance of lifelong learning. The 21st century
will be built on knowledge societies. It must be built on learning that is lifelong, that is
inclusive and holistic, flexible and comprehensive. The 1972 report led by Edgar Fore, Learning to Be,
put lifelong education forward as a master concept for all education systems. The focus
sharpened with time to fall on lifelong learning, as expressed in the 1996 report by Jacques Delors,
Learning the Treasure Within. The Delors report defined lifelong learning as the continuous
process of forming whole human beings, their knowledge and aptitudes, as well as their critical
faculty and their ability to act. Twelve years later, lifelong learning has never been more
important. Millions of women and men are calling out today for learning to pursue their dreams and
shape the world. Societies are calling out for opportunities to rise out of poverty, to overcome
economic and social vulnerabilities and inequality. In the words of the Delors report, learning is
essential for a more harmonious form of human development to reduce poverty, exclusion, ignorance,
oppression and war. This is the way, ladies and gentlemen, to unlock the potential of societies
for positive change and sustainable development. We must bridge the gap between knowledge and
learning for every woman and man. We must provide new opportunities for everyone to create and share
knowledge. As I just mentioned this morning in the Hamburg Senate, we must provide labour markets
with what they want and societies with what they need today and tomorrow. Lifelong learning is more
than adult education. It is more than technical and vocational education and training. It reaches
beyond the walls of classrooms and formal education to take in all forms of non-formal
and informal learning. It is about the kind of society we need for a better future. Innovation
and resilience have deeper roots than financial, economic or material assets. Solutions lie in the
imaginations of men and women. They must be nurtured in the capacities of individuals to
realise their rights fully in societies guided by equity, justice and dignity. This is what I mean by
calling for a new humanism for the century ahead. This is an appeal to invest in every woman and
man as a source of human dignity and a wellspring of innovation. I see these as stakes for the post
2015 global development agenda. We must make the most of every opportunity offered by globalisation,
by new information and communication technologies to support lifelong learning. And in fact these
goals guide the UNESCO's Institute for Lifelong Learning. The same objectives underpin UNESCO's
stewardship of education for all. They inspired our leadership of the United Nations Decade of
Education for Sustainable Development and the United Nations Literacy Decade which closes this year.
Lifelong learning is the philosophy, conceptual framework and organising principle for education
in the 21st century. These are the words from the 2009 Bellem framework for action and we know that
this is not yet a reality. I am pleased we will hear today from the experience of such distinguished
panellists like the Minister from Senegal, from France, Germany as well as from our partners from
the World Bank. We must do more to advance lifelong learning across the world. As in 1972 and 1996 we
need today a bold new vision for education and lifelong learning for the next 20 years. We need
a new focus on increasing the quality of learning, on enhancing the equity of education, on fostering
the skills for green economies and green societies, on crafting new forms of creativity and innovation.
This is UNESCO's contribution to the discussions underway on the contours of the post 2015
development agenda. We need an integrating vision for education and learning for the 21st century,
a new source of de l'Or's report to respond to rising needs and make the most of all opportunities.
So, ladies and gentlemen, the world has changed since 1996. The impact of change has deepened,
its speed has increased. New technologies are connecting people together and opening new worlds
for learning and sharing knowledge. Demands are rising for new skills, for new forms of literacy,
including cultural literacy. The learning to live together, which is a pillar of education,
has never been so important. The de l'Or report argued that lifelong learning is one of the keys
to the 21st century. We have come a long way since then, but we must still unlock the potential of
every society across the world. This is the challenge we must tackle today and after 2015.
And I thank you for your attention.