CONFINTEA VI postponed due to swine flu Friday, May 22, 2009 - 13:22

As a precaution to the swine-flu outbreak, the Brazilian government has decided to postpone the 6th UNESCO International Conference on adult education - CONFINTEA VI - due to take place in Brazil 19 - 22 May 2009.

A new date for the high profile meeting which had already received the confirmation of 123 of 193 UNESCO Member States will be established as soon as possible.

NIACE - who wrote the official UK report -  recognise the commitment of both UNESCO and the Brazilian government to hold the conference in 2009 so as not to break the traditional 12 year cycle of the event.

The official statement on CONFINTEA VI, from Fernando Haddad, Minister of Education, on behalf of the Brazilian Government, stated:

The Brazilian government, through its Ministry of Education, and UNESCO, regret to announce the postponement of the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI) which was to be held in the city of Belém, State of Pará, from 19 to 22 May 2009.

The decision to postpone the Conference was taken by the Brazilian government after taking into account the recommendation of its Permanent Group of Public Health Emergencies, created by the Decree of 24 October 2005.

Although there are no confirmed cases in Brazil, this group considered the developments associated with Influenza A (H1N1) in the world.

The postponement also took into consideration the World Health Organization's decision to maintain the international influenza pandemic alert at phase 5.

The Ministry of Education and UNESCO reaffirm their firm commitment to hold CONFINTEA VI in Brazil, this year, on a date to be confirmed as soon as possible.