Are your views on social issues based on the facts, or do you believe everything you’re told? Find out thanks to this quiz devised by Kate Lancaster, OECD editor in charge of publications dealing with social issues.

By Brian Keeley. Who’d be a CEO? Back in the days when the legendary Jack Welch was leading General Electric – and increasing its market value by more than a third of a trillion dollars – chief executive officers were the heroes of capitalism. These days, they seem as likely to show up on top-ten lists of failure.
Consider Thorsten Heins, appointed CEO of smartphone maker Blackberry in January 2012 at a time when it was haemorrhaging market share to Apple and Samsung. Mr Heins struggled to turn things around, but by the time he was eased out 22 months later the company’s share price was down almost 60%. That, in turn, hurt Mr Heins’ own earnings, which were linked to the share price. More...

By Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and Andrew Oswald. Some say money buys you happiness, but our research shows that it is the other way round – being happy when you are young helps you earn more.  Why should this be? Well, it may simply be that happier people are more productive and get promoted faster.
In our study, we looked at the happiness of thousands of randomly sampled young people and showed that, even allowing for other influences, their happiness tells you a lot about who is going to have higher earnings in life. We present the first in-depth investigation of whether today’s happiness is a predictor of income a decade later. More...

Inequalities in the world, between and within countries, are - together with the environment - the critical issues for the 21st century. Official data from the 2013 UNDP Report for 187 countries are here analysed and presented by the novel generic time distance methodology. The main proposition is that people compare over many dimensions and over time. The time distance perspective can thus contribute a useful piece of the mosaic in building up an internationally supported methodology to measure and assess the overall “position” and “progress” among and within countries. It offers a new view of data that is exceptionally easy to understand and communicate, and it allows for developing and exploring new hypotheses and perspectives. The analysis deals mostly with the first part of the statement of Aristotle, “Let us first understand the facts, and then we may seek the cause”. More...

The 20th March 2014, is the 2nd annual UN International Day of Happiness. This day was launched as a result of the UN resolution 65/309 which invites its member states “to pursue the elaboration of additional measures that better capture the importance of the pursuit of happiness and well-being in development with a view to guiding their public policies.”
The focus on happiness is a result of a movement towards a more holistic approach to development and progress. This happiness and well-being approach looks further into various areas of life such as good governance, protection and preservation of the environment, the promotion of global cultures, and fair and equitable economic development. More...

Educational inequalities in life satisfaction among teens – what do we know? A closer look at the role of health behaviour and gender differences
Research has identified a clear link between people’s social position and their health. Mackenbach (2006) found health inequalities among people with higher and lower socio-economic status in all European countries and, furthermore, a widening of some of these inequalities during the last decades. In some countries, differences in life expectancy amount to 10 years or more due to these inequalities in educational level, occupational class and income inequalities. In addition to social status, we know that gender also substantially affects an individual's health. In general, the social gradient in health is more pronounced among men than women. However, these gender differences vary by age, health outcome, and also social status. In a birth cohort from 1958, for instance, Matthews et al. (1999) found greater social inequalities among men in their 30’s for long-standing illness but greater inequalities among women for psychological distress at the same age. More...

A paradisiacal Polynesian archipelago 2,000 miles from the southwest coast of the US mainland, Hawaii really feels a world away from the rest of America. Find out what’s it’s like to study in Hawaii, and discover the state’s leading universities…
Inaugurated as an official US state as late as 1959, Hawaii holds on to a distinct culture influenced heavily by its Polynesian roots. And, although only vestiges of the more traditional aspects of Hawaiian culture can be glimpsed in modern day Hawaii, the traditions of Hula and Luau, examples of Hawaiian dance and party, are just two examples of the cultural exports Hawaii is famous for. More...

We are pleased to announce the publication of the Annual Report for 2013. The publication has been redesigned in order to provide a more accessible and visually attractive information source about the Institute and its work.

The Annual Report provides an overview of UIL’s key activities in 2013 and highlights outcomes and expected results in Member States. It opens with a timeline of activities, giving a general impression of the work carried out in 2013. Different work areas present their activities supported by testimonies from beneficiaries and actors. Each programme section concludes with a map, providing a visual representation of the diverse geographic locations of UIL’s work. All of these developments contribute to the aim of presenting our work in a more user-friendly way.

UIL would like to thank its donors, partners, governing board, staff members and interns for their contribution to the Institute’s work in 2013.

Download Annual Report

In December 2014 UNESCO Headquarters will host the 4^th World Forum on Lifelong Learning, entitled “ Lifelong Learning – Condition for Peace and Progress”.

A workgroup with representatives of the organising partners of the Forum has been created. It consists of the president of the Comité Mondial pour l’Apprentissage tout au long de la vie, Mr Yves Attou; UNESCO Assistant Director-General, Dr Qian Tang; Director of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), Arne Carlsen; and the president of the International Council for Adult Education (ICAE), Mr Alan Tuckett.

The Forum will be organized around four themes:

1. Ensuring lifelong access to basic knowledge for all
2. Developing people-centred learning communities
3. Promoting health throughout life
4. Developing multicultural understanding

500 participants are expected to attend the Forum and discuss the reality and ideal of Lifelong Learning for All, addressing obstacles and success factors, prerequisites and tools, as well as sharing experiences and reflections.