On 9 June 2021, the UNESCO Regional Office in Harare and the UNESCO Regional Office in Nairobi, in cooperation with the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), will host the sub-regional preparatory consultation for the seventh International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VII) for the region Southern Africa online. Representatives from Botswana, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe will come together to discuss innovations, challenges and forward-looking strategies to renew policies and action in youth and adult learning and education. Outcomes will feed into the CONFINTEA VII Africa Regional Conference and, ultimately, CONFINTEA VII itself, which will take place in 2022.

The Kingdom of Morocco is set to host CONFINTEA VII, which will welcome over 1,000 participants and examine effective adult learning and education policies within a lifelong learning perspective and within the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Participants will jointly work on a new framework for action that will replace the Belém Framework for Action (BFA), adopted at CONFINTEA VI in 2009.

During CONFINTEA VII, Member States will be encouraged to enact policies, learning incentives, regulatory frameworks, and institutional structures and mechanisms to contribute to a human rights culture, social justice, shared values and sustainable development. In recognition of continuing advancements in artificial intelligence, special attention will be paid to using information and communications technologies to promote access to adult learning and education and inclusion.

Participation

Participants are nominated by the respective National Commissions for UNESCO.