The 17th ICFTU Congress was held in Durban S.A, 3 - 7 April. As the ICFTU Congress is undisputedly the most important meeting place for trade union people worldwide, IFWEA decided to send representatives. The IFWEA delegation consisted of Sahra Ryklief, the IFWEA regional co-ordinator for Africa, Dave Spooner, International Secretary of WEA England and Scotland, and Jan Mehlum, IFWEA General Secretary.

There were more than 1200 delgates present of which 26 of them were also IFWEA affiliates. It was a great opportunity to meet these member organisations and to discuss issues of mutual interest.

The IFWEA delegation managed to meet nearly every member organisation present, including all the the new member organisations from the Portuguese-speaking African countries. IFWEA now has 20 affiliates in Africa, an increase from only 6 four years ago. We also managed to meet with several East- and Central European affiliates and indeed also some non-affliates from the region. The IFWEA delegation also met several other non-affiliates. There was considerable interest in joining in the IFWEA network.

It became very clear how important the International Study Circles Project has been for increasing the knowledge about IFWEA and indeed the international recognition of the organisation. IFWEA was well-known to many organisations, and the ISC project was well spoken of.

Jan Mehlum had the opportunity to address one of the plenary sessions. He mentioned the neccesary co-operation between the trade union movement and the workers’ education movement, and indicated that the ISC could be a stepping stone for further co-operation.