The Belém Framework for Action (BFA) was adopted by 144 UNESCO Member States at the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI), which took place in 2009 in Belém, Brazil. The BFA sets out Member States’ commitments to developing policies and programmes, improving governance, increasing funding, widening participation and improving quality in adult learning and education (ALE), and to monitoring and reporting on national progress. UNESCO was asked to coordinate the monitoring process at the global level. It does this by conducting national surveys, and by analysing and publishing the data obtained from Members States in the Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE).  Three of these reports have been published since 2009; the third, GRALE III, was launched at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris during this year’s fiftieth anniversary of International Literacy Day. GRALE III provides arguments for an inter-sectoral approach to ALE and examines the impact of ALE on health and well-being; employment and the labour market; and social, civic and community life. GRALE III also outlines the ways in which ALE can help achieve the targets of the Education 2030 Framework for Action and the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
As the UNESCO entity responsible for following up on the BFA, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) will organize a series of regional launches for GRALE III. In order to share the report’s main findings and develop insights into their implications for various world regions, UIL will work with UNESCO regional offices and national and international partners such as the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), the International Council of Adult Education (ICAE), the European Commission and the Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association (DVV International).
GRALE III provides compelling evidence of ALE’s positive impact on sustainable development, particularly when it is embedded within a lifelong learning framework. The report also provides examples of good practice from all over the world. I have no doubt that policymakers, practitioners and researchers will find these very helpful when designing and implementing ALE programmes.