At the time of the fifth UNESCO international conference on adult education (CONFINTEA V) in Hamburg in 1997, it seemed that a resilient alliance of governments and civil society organizations had been created. This alliance would have the commitment and cooperation needed to pursue the ambitious aspirations captured in the 10 themes of the "Hamburg Declaration on Adult Learning and Agenda for the Future" (UNESCO, 1997) adopted at the conference. In this chapter the author explores what happened to the alliance and to the energy and confidence generated by the process in respect of two of the themes in the "Declaration." Theme 8 concerned the rights and aspirations of different groups: the aged, migrants, gypsies and other nonterritorial and/or nomadic peoples, refugees, disabled people, and prison inmates; Theme 10 addressed increasing international cooperation and solidarity to enhance adult learning opportunities.