Economic dimensions of sustainable development, the fight against poverty and

educational responses
Author(s): Manzoor Ahmed
Source: International Review of Education / Internationale Zeitschrift für
Erziehungswissenschaft / Revue Internationale de l'Education , 2010, Vol. 56, No. 2/3,
The Midway Point of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development: Where
Do We Stand? (2010), pp. 235-253
Published by: Springer

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40928670

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Int Rev Educ (2010) 56:235-253
DOI 10.1007/S11159-010-9166-8

Economic dimensions of sustainable development,

the fight against poverty and educational responses

Manzoor Ahmed

Published online: 6 June 2010

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

Abstract The arguments in the article are based on the ongoing discourse in the
academic community and among stakeholders, which has contributed to the artic-
ulation of the concepts and premises of sustainable development and the role of
learning modalities, technologies and networks. The article draws on this discourse
to explore the economic aspects of sustainable development, focusing on pervasive
poverty, and the implications for educational actions. The concepts and underlying
premises of education for sustainable development (ESD) are discussed. The article
presents the key elements of an integrated approach to fighting poverty in the context
of sustainable development. The role of learning and education in this integrated
approach is outlined, framing the educational elements within the perspective of
lifelong learning.

Keywords Education • Sustainable development • Lifelong learning •

Life-long learning • Literacy • Economic pillar • Fighting poverty •
Integrated approach

Resume Aspects économiques du développement durable, de la réduction de la

pauvreté et des réponses éducatives - Les arguments présentés dans cet article
s'appuient sur le discours actuel du monde universitaire et de certaines parties
prenantes, qui contribue à formuler les concepts et principes du développement
durable ainsi que le rôle des modalités, technologies et réseaux d'apprentissage.
L'auteur s'inspire de ce discours pour explorer les aspects économiques du dével-
oppement durable, en particulier de la pauvreté croissante et des implications en
termes d'actions éducatives. Il analyse les concepts de l'éducation pour le dével-
oppement durable (EDD) et les principes qui la sous-tendent, et présente les prin-
cipaux éléments d'une approche intégrée de la lutte contre la pauvreté dans le

M. Ahmed (S)
Institute of Educational Development (IED), BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
e-mail: amahmed40@hotmail.com

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 236 M. Ahmed

contexte du
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Resumen Dimensiones económicas del desarrollo sostenible, del alivio de la

pobreza y de las respuestas educativas - Los planteamientos de este artículo están
basados en los discursos actuales que tienen lugar dentro de la comunidad acadé-
mica y entre los grupos de interés y que han contribuido a definir los conceptos y las
premisas del desarrollo sostenible y el papel de las modalidades, tecnologías y redes
de aprendizaje. Este artículo se remite a estos discursos para examinar los aspectos
económicos del desarrollo sostenible centrándose en la pobreza generalizada y las
implicaciones para acciones educativas. El autor describe los conceptos y las pre-
misas de educación subyacentes de la Educación para el Desarrollo Sostenible
(EDS). Este artículo presenta los elementos clave de un enfoque integral para luchar
contra la pobreza en el contexto del desarrollo sostenible. También ofrece una idea
general del papel que juegan el aprendizaje y la educación en este enfoque integral,
enmarcando los elementos educativos dentro de la perspectiva de aprendizaje
durante toda la vida.

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The fight against poverty and educational responses 237

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Introduction

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present

without compromising the ability of future generations to meeting their own
needs.

(World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future

[The Brundtland Report] 1987, p. 43)

Eradicating poverty is the greatest global challenge facing the world today and
an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, particularly for
developing countries.
(Plan of Implementation of the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable
Development 2002)

This article explores the economic aspects of sustainable development, focusing on

pervasive poverty, and the implications for educational actions, drawing on current
discourse on these questions. The concepts and underlying premises of education for
sustainable development (ESD) are discussed in the second section ("ESD -
concepts and premises"). Starting from the premise of the critical link between
sustainable development and combating poverty, the third section ("The imperative
of the fight against poverty") presents the key elements of an integrated approach to
fighting poverty in the context of sustainable development. The role of learning and
education is framed by the perspective of lifelong learning in the fourth section
("The education response - a lifelong learning perspective"). The concluding
comments highlight the opportunities and challenges identified in the UNESCO
mid-decade review of ESD.
The arguments in the article are based on the on-going discourse in the academic
community and among stakeholders. This discourse has contributed to the
articulation of the concepts and premises of sustainable development and the
pertinent role of learning modalities, technologies and networks. The article draws
on ideas derived from seminal studies on the critical link between sustainable
development and the fight against large-scale poverty. It examines the logic of an
integrated approach to fighting poverty. The work related to the sixth world
conference on adult learning and education (CONFINTEA VI) buttressed the
arguments for framing the contribution of education to sustainable development
within a lifelong learning perspective. Relying again on on-going discourse, th
relevance of the conclusions regarding the economic pillar of sustainable
development is underscored in the concluding comments.
A discussion of the economic dimensions of sustainable development cannot but
bring up the scourge of pervasive poverty that afflicts a large part of humanity. Thi

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 238 M. Ahmed

discussion als
rich, use and
sighted and
benefit of p
formal and t
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ESD - conce

The underlyi
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• The concep
which overr
• The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social
organisation on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.

Such a definition recognises the need for a systemic approach to sustainable

development - and a systemic view of the world, society and people's lives - in
order to understand the problems at hand and find appropriate, effective solutions.
People need an income and they also need the air they breathe to be clean. They
need to be healthy and they also need to have access to education. And how these
needs are met is not unconnected; in fact the actions related to diverse needs can and
should be synergistic and thus mutually supportive of each other.
There are contrarian views which question both the premises and facts presented
in support of the proposition of sustainable development. Wilfred Beckerman may
be cited as one representing this genre of arguments based on an ideological position
in favour of market solutions to most human, social and economic problems. He
questions that depleting natural resources is a threat, that global warming is certain
to wreak havoc, that human activities may throw the delicate planet dangerously out
of balance, and that future generations possess claims that have to be balanced with

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The fight against poverty and educational responses 239

those of the present generation. Beckerman agues that the phen

of people lacking clean air and water, and being affected
ecosystems is caused not by "unsustainable development" but b
defined property rights, and lack of freedom of opportunity.
"sustainable development" policies would worsen these conditio
future generations (Beckerman 2004).
It can be argued, with some justification, that discussion on
sustainable development need to give due attention to "meetin
present" and that some of these discussions have focussed
development, but on restricting it in the name of protecting the
can be argued that in the years since the 1992 World Conferen
and Development took place, discourse and practices have faile
policies and strategies that enable effective poverty alleviation
sustainability. Moreover, the forces of globalisation have serve
than drivers for placing sustainable development at the centre
prescriptions or accompanying institutional reforms (Reed 200
Nicholas Stern, former chief economist at the World Bank, in
study carried out in 2006 on the future costs of climate change
market failure as a key problem. He identified one example as
the market to take into account the climate change costs of bu
(Stern 2006).
The petrol price of $3 a gallon at the pump in the United States in mid-2007
reflected the cost of discovering oil, extracting it, refining it and delivering it to the
service station. It overlooked the costs of climate change, tax subsidies to the oil
industry (such as the oil depletion allowance), the health care costs for treating
respiratory illnesses caused by polluted air, and the military costs of protecting
access to oil in politically unstable regions. The difference between the market
prices for fossil fuels and the prices that also incorporate their environmental costs
to society is obviously huge. The International Centre for Technology Assessment
calculated that factoring in other costs beyond those for production and distribution
would put the price of a gallon at the pump up to $15 instead of $3 (Brown 2008,
p. 7).
The overwhelming reality at the beginning of the twenty-first century is that the
extent of poverty globally remains massive, as half of the world's people live on less
than €2 per day. Inequalities between and within countries are extremely high and in
many cases rising. 40 years ago, the ratio between the incomes of the richest 20% of
the world's population and the poorest 20% was 30 to 1. Now it is 90 to 1. Today,
the consumption expenditure in an average African household is 20% less than it
was 25 years ago. As Lester Brown puts it:

The social and economic gap between the world's richest 1 billion people and
its poorest 1 billion has no historical precedent. Not only is this gap wide, it is
widening. The poorest billion are trapped at subsistence level and the richest
billion are becoming wealthier with each passing year. The economic gap can
be seen in the contrasts in nutrition, education, disease patterns, family size,
and life expectancy. (Brown 2008, p. 107)

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 240 M. Ahmed

Brown notes
tipping poin
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Decade on ESD (2005-2014).

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The fight against poverty and educational responses 241

Marginalisation and disparity, and claiming a stake for all in econ

and social development

As mentioned above, the vulnerable poor and the large marginal

populations must be given a stake in sustainable development. Ke
effort are: the empowerment of people at the local level in design
poverty reduction; access to productive assets, capital and techno
microfinance being a widely used instrument; and extending a soc
economic support to the ultra-poor, those who are ineligible even
in order to enhance their capabilities to access capital and techno
NGOs have played an important role in carrying out economic in
poor.
The effects of climate change show that poor people are most like
victims of and suffer most from environmental degradation. Th
vulnerable than others to environmental hazards and environment-related conflicts
and least able to cope with them when these occur. They also tend to be most
dependent on the natural environment and the direct use of natural resources, and
are therefore most severely affected by environmental degradation and lack of
access to natural resources.
Thinking about poverty and sustainable development has begun to converge on
the themes of vulnerability, social protection and livelihoods with regard to
marginalised groups. A livelihood, comprising the capabilities, assets and activities
required for earning a living, is sustainable when it can cope with external stresses
and can maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets now and in the future.
(ProVention Consortium 2007). To promote sustainable livelihoods in the context of
coping with vulnerabilities to disasters, a number of conditions must be analysed,
understood and transformed, comprising:

• Context. The external environment in which poor people live their lives and
which is responsible for many of their hardships.
• Assets and capabilities (or "capital"). The resources poor people possess or
have access to and use to gain a livelihood.
• Policies, institutions and processes. The institutions, organisations, policies and
legislation that determine access to assets and choice of livelihood strategies.
• Livelihood strategies. The ways in which poor people deploy their assets and
capabilities to improve their livelihoods (i.e. consumption, production, process-
ing, exchange and income-generating activities).
• Outcomes. Successful livelihood strategies should lead to more income and
more economically sustainable livelihoods, increased well-being, reduced
vulnerability and more sustainable use of the natural resource base (ProVention
Consortium 2007).

These considerations regarding the livelihood of vulnerable groups need to figure

prominently in government strategies for poverty reduction and sustainable
development.
A number of pertinent issues arise with regard to establishing the stake of the
disadvantaged in sustainable development and its educational implications. If it is

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242 M. Ahmed

accepted that
protect vulne
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Coping with

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What institu
these? How
programmes

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The fight against poverty and educational responses 243

Meeting the needs of rural people and rethinking education

for rural transformation

Goals set globally and by individual nations for education a

twenty-first century, such as the MDGs and EFA goals, can
effectively tackling the needs of rural populations in devel
In spite of overwhelming and accelerating urbanisation, th
all the people in developing countries and half of the people
rural areas. Three quarters of the world's poor in extreme
subsisting on less than a dollar of earning a day - live
UNESCO International Research and Training Centre f
(INRULED) indicates:
Breakdown of numbers for rural areas on education indicators are often not
reported - a sign of neglect of the problem. But it can be safely assumed that
non-attendance in school, early dropout of students, adult illiteracy and gender
inequality in education are disproportionately high in rural areas - paralleling
concentration of poverty in villages. Urban-rural disparity in educational
investments and in the quality of teaching and learning is widespread and
persistent. (INRULED 2001, p. IX)

The INRULED study points out that separate educational policies and programmes
for rural areas are not necessarily the answer. It suggests that the paramount need,
largely neglected so far, is to adapt, adjust and redirect national education priorities,
resources and strategies to the specific conditions of diverse and changing rural
communities. It is essential to turn the continuing and inevitable transition of rural
areas, often with adverse consequences for rural economy, environment and
people's life, into a positive process of transformation of rural communities.
Educational programmes have to become a vital part of this transformation through
committed partnerships of the government, communities, businesses, and civil
society. The crucial importance of pursuing sustainable development objectives
need to be assessed from the point of view of advancing rural transformation in the
context of responses to economic globalisation.
The "education for rural transformation" study emphasises that the dynamics of
rural transformation in the "globalised" world of the twenty-first century has
created new educational imperatives which go beyond the traditional concerns
regarding rural communities. These include:

1. increasing opportunities for post-primary and secondary education, with

countries recognising these as a part of basic education for all including the
rural people;
2. alternative mechanisms for vocational and occupational skill development for
changing rural needs;
3. re-orienting and giving a higher priority in tertiary education to serving the
dynamic needs of rural development;
4. revisiting the purposes and content of education in the light of the twenty-first
century national and rural development priorities; and

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 244 M. Ahmed

5. bridging
combating urban-rural educational disparities (INRULED 2001, p. XI;
Atchoarena and Gasperini 2003).

Promoting sustainable production and consumption in the context of poverty

reduction

Roughly 5% of the people of the world in North America enjoys one-third of the
world' s economic output. Meanwhile, one-third of the world' s population in China
and India can lay claim to a mere 6% of the world's economic output. As Körten
(2006) suggests, the central point of the debate on sustainability is arguably whether
the patterns of consumption and production in North America and Europe are
sustainable for the majority of the world outside the privileged enclave. Another
way of posing this question is to ask: Is it responsible of the developing world to
aspire to emulate the pattern of production and consumption of North America and
Europe? If not, is there an alternative development path that the developing
countries need to find and follow, while protecting and promoting the rights, dignity
and well-being of all human beings? And what are the moral, ethical and
enlightened self-interest imperatives for the rich countries of the industrial world?
As Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute points out:

China has now overtaken the United States in consumption of most basic
resources. By 2030, when its income per person is projected to match that in
the United States today, China will be consuming twice as much paper as the
world currently produces. If in 2030 the country's 1.46 billion people have
three cars for every four people, U.S. style, China will have 1.1 billion cars.
And it will be consuming 98 million barrels of oil per day, well above current
world production. The western economic model - the fossil-fuel-based,
automobile-centered, throwaway economy - is not going to work for China. If
it doesn't work for China, it won't work for India or the other 3 billion people
in developing countries who are also dreaming the American dream. And in an
increasingly integrated world economy, where we all depend on the same
grain, oil, and steel, it will not work for industrial countries either. The
challenge for our generation is to build a new economy, one that is powered
largely by renewable sources of energy, that has a highly diversified transport
system, and that reuses and recycles everything. And to do it with
unprecedented speed. (Brown 2008, p. XII)

Conflicts and opportunities for sustainable development

In the 14 years following the end of the Cold War (1990-2004), the world witnessed
118 violent conflicts in 80 locations affecting tens of millions of people. On average,
each year has seen around 30 active conflicts (Harbom and Wallensteen 2005).
However, these numbers do not reflect the full impact of conflicts on people -
large-scale death and violence, millions of people's lives turned upside-down, the
destruction of infra-structure and livelihoods, and the disruption of social systems

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The fight against poverty and educational responses 245

and institutions. This has led to the creation of the label "f
countries "which lack either the will or the capacity to ... en
human rights and provide the basic functions for devel
P- 4).
In the context of ESD, two issues arise from the phenomenon of conflicts, their
prevalence and their impact on large numbers of people. Firstly, how does the
educational system respond to this phenomenon both in coping with conflicts and
post-conflict trauma and in preventing potential conflicts? Secondly, in conceptu-
alising and designing the educational response, what is being done to support and
promote the sustainability of necessary changes in social and economic
development?
It has been argued that the need to rebuild education services in a post-conflict
situation opens a window of opportunity that allows basic changes to be made to
curricula, new pedagogic approaches to be introduced and education systems to be
rebuilt so that they emphasise the necessity of preventing conflicts and building
peace (Nicolai 2009).

Demography and sustainable development

Population growth, the rise of the urban industrial society, economic development in
general, environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity form a seamless web:
each of these is both a cause and effect of the other (International Union for
Conservation of Nature 1997). In the last quarter of the twentieth century alone, the
global population increased by 2 billion, reaching 6 billion in 2000. It is expected to
increase by at least another 2 billion during the first half of the twenty-first century,
in spite of declining fertility. The poorest communities and urban areas of the
developing world will bear the brunt of this growth.
The Global Science Panel, a body of 30 distinguished scientists from around the
world, in providing an input to the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable
Development, argues that policy must account for differential vulnerability within
populations. Vulnerability should therefore be assessed not only nationally but with
regard to the most at-risk or marginalised segments of the national population. The
Panel pointed out that vulnerability can be reduced by promoting empowerment,
investing in human resources and fostering participation in public affairs and
decision-making by the vulnerable groups (Global Science Panel 2002).
The Science Panel underscored two policies with multiple benefits for individual
welfare, social and economic development, and for the environment: One is
investment in voluntary family planning and reproductive health programmes. The
second is education, especially education that enhances individual choice, fosters
women's empowerment and improves gender equality. Many women in developing
countries still have more children than they actually want, the scientists point out.
These women can exercise their choice and be free from unwanted childbearing
when reproductive health care is combined with empowering education. These two
policies - education and reproductive health programmes - are in high demand by
individuals because of their clear and multiple benefits. They deserve the highest
priority in efforts to achieve sustainable development (Global Science Panel 2002).

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 246 M. Ahmed

Globalisation

Globalisation
regional phen
being conne
however, the
globalisation
to the reduction and removal of barriers between national borders in order to
facilitate the flow of goods, capital, services and labour.
Winners and losers from the inexorable forces of globalisation are determined by
a number of factors over which little control can be exercised: whether people live
in the global north or in urban and developed parts of a country; whether they are
skilled and educated; whether they have acquired the capacity to adjust to change
and new situations easily; whether they possess assets; and what their gender and
ethnic status is (Streeten 2001). Globalisation-induced improvements in a nation's
standard of living also can promote women's status and raise household income,
education, nutrition and life expectancy, while lowering birthrates. The key
questions at stake here are clearly as follows: How to discern the factors which
create winners and losers, identifying the vulnerable groups affected by these
factors? How to determine the conditions and actions that would reduce the
vulnerability of people? How to promote and support the creation of thes
conditions and enable people to engage in these actions?

Developing learning and knowledge networks and technology for sustainable

development within the framework of lifelong learning

The argument for placing knowledge networks and lifelong learning high up on th
national development agenda is that it can contribute in important ways to meetin
the challenges of the modern world both for individuals and societies. Thes
challenges as articulated in development priorities and aspiration of societies hav
to find a place in the curriculum, learning objectives, educational methodology, an
in expanding learning opportunities for all (Ahmed 2008).
Establishing the relevance of the educational activities for individuals and
society, designing the activities accordingly, implementing these to realise t
outcomes, and evaluating whether indeed the outcomes and, ultimately, the desire
impact have been produced are neither one well-defined task, nor can they be the j
of one central national agency. It entails addressing programme objectives a
priorities, curricula and materials design, and outcome and impact assessments for
multitude of activities. Three major and commonly-encountered developme
challenges stand out:

1. The need to fight poverty, particularly in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa
where the largest concentration of people in extreme poverty is found.
2. The need for sustainable development; the lives and livelihoods of large
numbers of people in the island nations and coastal areas of many countries ar

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The fight against poverty and educational responses 247

currently under threat, and other aspects of the fragile envir

affecting people in all countries.
3. The need for participatory democracy and democratic p
countries aspire to build a secure future for themselves and
based on the principles of peace, harmony, justice and hum

As different high-profile issues relating to priorities and stra

development emerge - the enumeration above can be regarde
the challenge is how these can be incorporated into education
curricula, without overloading the content and undermining
learning (e.g. when students rely on rote learning and memo
ignore thinking, reasoning and creativity). The problem has
discourse in these words:

. . . synergies need to be created between ESD and other 'adjectival' educations

such as: peace education, gender education, inclusive education, multicultural
education, human rights education, HIV & AIDS education, global education,
consumer education, holistic education, citizenship education, health educa-
tion and development education. (Wals 2009, p. 72)

Innovations in teaching and learning that are related to promoting ESD are still in
their infancy. The educational reform agenda in general calls for changes that are
relevant for ESD. These include alternative methodologies that centre on
understanding complexities; recognising connections and interdependencies; par-
ticipating in democratic decision-making processes; and questioning dominant and
long-accepted systems and routines that appear fundamentally unsustainable. The
mainstream education community - schools of education, curriculum development
institutions and educational research organisations - needs to be engaged inten-
sively and systematically in researching and developing these new forms of teaching
and learning, and in creating relevant curricula, learning environments and school-
community relationships (Wals 2009).
Yet what exactly do the goals highlighted above mean in educational terms, and
how do these blend with or are balanced with other important concerns in each
society? How can experiences be shared among countries and lessons be learned
about how the complex dynamics work out? Without wishing to dictate what
decisions should be reached by each country (and, to a degree, each community) and
by the learners themselves, the following section attempts to find an answer and
frame it within the lifelong learning perspective.

The education response - a lifelong learning perspective1

The rise of the knowledge economy and the information society in the globalised
world has redefined the role and character of education and learning. The

1 This section draws substantially on the report of the Asia Pacific Regional Review of Adult and
Lifelong Learning prepared for the Sixth World Conference on Adult Learning and Education
(CONFINTEA VI), Belém, Brazil, December 2009 (Ahmed 2008).

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 248 M. Ahmed

contribution
and new id
productivity
developmen
capacity to
Education an
quantities do
Nobel prize
capability ap
of social jus
emerged as
poverty, ine
the means
approach pr
underpinni
2005).
A convergen
embracing
alternative
diverse for
circumstan
particular a
unemploym
turmoil. Ad
school refor
and Sub-Sah
lifelong edu
Adult learning and education (ALE) is seen as a way of developing the
capabilities of individuals to overcome poverty and prevailing gross inequalities in
economic terms and, more broadly, in terms of health, access to knowledge and
information, and opportunities in life. This, in turn, would allow people to exercise
and claim their democratic rights, and fulfil their obligations as citizens by helping
to build democratic culture and institutions and by making government and the state
responsive to the needs of its citizens. To date, these rights and obligations are not
yet reflected evenly and effectively in national policies and programmes.
Determining global, national and contextually- specific development challenges,
and deciding how these would figure in adult learning and education and lifelong
learning (ALE/LLL) is clearly a major issue for national systems of adult education
and individual programmes. Priority to ALE/LLL can be justified only in terms of
how it helps meet critical development challenges.
The developing world, particularly South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, has a
high concentration of adult and youth illiterates, especially among women and
marginalised groups. High population growth, large numbers of non-enroled
children and dropouts from primary school add to the already huge numbers of
illiterates. In spite of the harsh living conditions for many, characterised by extreme
poverty, malnutrition and a number of conflict/post-conflict situations in the region,

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The fight against poverty and educational responses 249

many countries do not have clear adult education/learning polic

mitigate these problems in a holistic manner. The weaknes
structures and the professional base hinder quality in ALE. Th
involvement of higher education institutions. A disproportion
allocation from government and donors is devoted to adult edu
programmes.
As noted earlier, the pattern of economic growth and investment policies and
planning have created an unequal geographic distribution of wealth amongst and
within countries. Urban areas have greater access to formal schooling, higher-
quality education and non-formal education programmes, with the exception of
urban slums where the poor are concentrated. In the developing regions of the
world, there are multiple factors shaping social and individual goals for adult
learning. These include, among others, population migration and displacement;
language diversity; the need to develop alternative energy sources; issues of
deforestation and broader sustainable development; structural shifts in the economy
from farming to industry and services; and the need to acquire and upgrade skills for
the competitive and rapidly changing labour market.
The growing demand for démocratisation and the need to resolve social conflicts
affecting the social fabric of countries and communities represent two further
significant challenges for education. To meet them, the quality and characteristics of
adult and lifelong education provisions need to change and their scope must expand.
The skills and competencies of adult educators/facilitators must furthermore be
enhanced.

National and international discourse suggests key areas of action. It is clear that
any approach must be multi-pronged, paying due attention to functional literacy and
promoting critical consciousness as the foundation for lifelong learning, thereby
empowering people to help themselves.

A multi-pronged approach to promote "critical literacy" and combat poverty

Adopting a multi pronged and integrated approach to combat illiteracy

The lessons from half a century of efforts in this field call for a strategy that
combines effective primary education of acceptable quality, non-formal basic
education equivalent to primary education for adolescents and youth as a "second
chance", and demand-based literacy courses for youth and adults as a part of a
network of adult and non-formal learning programmes.

Effective programmes to fight poverty have to link literacy skills, production skills,
quality -of- life components and ancillary support

Skills training can lead to better earning power only with ancillary support and the
creation of necessary conditions, such as access to credit, management advice,
market information and links with potential employers. Moreover, poverty is not
just a matter of income. There are many factors that affect well-being and quality of
life, all of which should be integrated into learning aimed at fighting poverty. These

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 250 M. Ahmed

factors incl
protection; f
of women in
activities ou
their individu

Networks of

The multipur
effective wh
and link up w
technical su
opportunities
for lifelong l

Linking ALE/

A number of
means of add
by a number

Determining
and deciding
and through

Priority to
challenges. S
above. There
in ALE/LLL a
participatory

Establishing
challenges an
and diverse p

Determining
and materia
With the ge
strategy, the
assessment an
national syst

Affirmative

A policy of a
sections of th

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The fight against poverty and educational responses 25 1

Addressing inequality is an overarching principle

In view of the raison d'etre of ALE/LLL, one of its overarching

must be to identify the inequalities and disparities within soc
can and need to help overcome by means of tailored programm
the same time, work on national poverty reduction strategies -
many countries - should underscore the role and contribution

High priority to overcoming gender injustice and disparity

Patriarchal values and culture continue to dominate. This in tur

of (overt or subtle) gender injustice and discrimination. Gende
addressed both in respect of management structures and of p
Special attention must be paid to ensuring that a higher proport
present obtains jobs as managers, supervisors and trainers.

Disadvantaged and neglected groups - central to the ALE/LLL

Ethnic and linguistic minorities, indigenous people, slum dwel

and people with disabilities and special needs are difficult to r
be excluded from most education programmes. Specialised
targeted projects are required for these groups, as well as a se
makes programmes inclusive, responsive and appropriate in ter
content and teaching practices. Mobilisation and awareness-rai
be directed specifically towards overcoming traditional attitud
disabilities and ethnic, cultural, and religious differences.

Concluding comments

An international workshop on the economic pillar of sustainab

educational approaches was scheduled during the mid-decade g
UN Decade of ESD that took place in Bonn from 31 Marc
(UNESCO 2009a). The workshop concluded that the current glo
has created a unique opportunity to promote learning an
educational actions. It also concluded that the crisis and the re
that the economic pillar of sustainable development is the com
least advanced in terms of the general understanding of the co
educational strategies. Participants agreed that "the premi
underlying these [ESD] efforts and how they operated need to
and that it was too early to look for models of success or
(UNESCO 2009a).
Overall, the workshop underscored that, as this article suggests, transforming
economic systems in order to promote sustainability requires that the education
systems also be transformed, and vice versa. As the Bonn Declaration of the mid-
decade world ESD conference put it,

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 252 M. Ahmed

A decade int
linked deve
knowledge,
Through ed
economic a
livelihoods,
cohesion, d
ration, Arti

As the civili
no need for
assess their
everything t
onto a susta
education an
choices are w

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Author Biography

Manzoor Ahmed, Ed.D. is currently Senior Adviser at the Institute of Educational Development (IED),
BRAC University. He was the Institute's founder-director. He began his professional career at the
Institute of Education and Research at Dhaka University in 1961. He also served briefly in 1969 as
Deputy Education Adviser at Ministry of Education in Islamabad, Pakistan. He was a researcher at the
International Council for Educational Development in USA from 1970 to 1978. Dr. Ahmed served as the
first Senior Education Adviser at UNICEF Headquarters when this position was established in 1981. He
represented UNICEF in the international planning team for the 1990 World Conference on Education for
All held in Jomtien, Thailand. He has also served as a UNICEF representative in China, Ethiopia and
Japan. Dr. Ahmed is the author of many internationally-known publications on non-formal education,
educational policy and planning, and education in relation to national development.

4y Springer

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