NIACE welcomes World Trade Week Thursday, June 11, 2009 - 11:27

World Trade Week gives NIACE the opportunity to celebrate the massive amounts of learning which adults undertake working in trade and enterprise while improving their skills and knowledge.

The UK has steadily increased opportunities for individuals to learn at work through employers, unionlearn and Train to Gain. Such learning embraces short courses and full qualifications as well as learning for personal interest through employee development schemes.

Learning for and in work - in all its rich diversity - is to be cherished, encouraged and celebrated.

However such opportunities are not universally available, either in the UK or elsewhere. The poorest and most vulnerable people need an even greater choice of opportunities to reach, engage and support them in realising their potential to contribute economically to family and community wealth.

Colleagues in NIACE have recently returned from Uganda where they worked alongside a wide range of different family enterprises; craft production, catering, agriculture and recycling.

These trading organisations involve every member of the family but access to improving skills, knowledge and understanding of running their businesses, financial capability, market information and planning is extremely limited.

Such family enterprises are the very lifeblood of African economies. Their potential to create sustainable economies is enormous but only if the G8 (and G20) continue, and increase, their commitment to support developing countries.

As Gordon Brown says, "In this new global age our prosperity is indivisible. In order for growth to be sustained it must be shared and trade must once again become an engine of growth. This time of financial crisis is no time to walk away from our commitment from the world's poorest."

Then we really would be able to celebrate a World Trade Week.