Responding to global challenges through lifelong learning, this is the title of our debate this afternoon.
In our world today, we are confronted with urgent development issues like increasing inequality, poverty, youth unemployment, conflict between communities and across borders,
environmental changes and the consequent disasters. How are we educators responding to these challenges through our education and training programs?
In this context, lifelong learning is being offered as a conceptual framework that provides key principles on how to organize and implement education and training programs.
This afternoon, we have brought together personalities from key organizations who have been working on issues of lifelong learning.
We are privileged to have the Director General of UNESCO, Mrs. Irina Bocova, to talk about the relevance of UNESCO's soft power in a globalized world.
We also have Mr. Mamadou Ndoy, former Minister of Basic Education and National Languages of Senegal. He will talk about operationalizing lifelong learning in Africa.
We also have Mrs. Elizabeth King, Director of Education in the Human Development Network of the World Bank, who is going to share the World Bank's new strategy on lifelong learning.
Then, from the host country's Federal Ministry of Economic Operation Development, BMZ, Mrs. Lena Reiplinger is going to highlight BMZ education strategies 2010-2013, where lifelong learning is embedded as a vision.
And finally, Mrs. Suzy Alimi, Vice President of the French National Commission for UNESCO and former Chair of the UIL Governance Board, will provide her reflections on the role of lifelong learning for developing a new humanism for the 21st century.
After this presentation, we will take a break, and after coffee break, you will have the opportunity to interact with the panelists.
Now it is my pleasure to invite the Director General of UNESCO, Mrs. Irina Bocova, to come and deliver her speech.