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UNESCO celebrates International Literacy Day highlighting link between peace and literacy
by Joseph Earnest September 8, 2011
Newscast Media NEW DELHI, India -- The 2011 International Literacy Day that was celebrated across the globe on September 8, focused on the link between literacy and peace. The ceremony was held in New Delhi, India, and UNESCO awarded the international Confucius and King Sejong literacy prizes to projects in Burundi, Mexico, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the United States of America.
Also in New Delhi, an international conference on Women’s Literacy for Inclusive and Sustainable Development is being organized by UNESCO’s E9 initiative, from 8 to 10 September.
"The world urgently needs increased political commitment to literacy backed by adequate resources to scale up effective programs. Today I urge governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector to make literacy a policy priority, so that every individual can develop their potential, and actively participate in shaping more sustainable, just and peaceful societies," declared UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.
According to data from UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics, 793 million
adults – most of them girls and women - are illiterate. A further 67
million children of primary school age are not in primary school and 72
million adolescents of lower secondary school age are also missing out
their right to an education.
More than half the adult population of the following 11 countries are
illiterate: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Haiti,
Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. South and West Asia account for
more than half (51,8%) the world’s adult illiterate population, ahead of
sub-Saharan Africa (21,4%), East Asia and the Pacific (12,8%), the Arab
States (7,6%), Latin America and the Caribbean (4,6%), North America,
Europe and Central Asia (2%).
Data on world literacy can be downloaded or accessed here. (pop-up)
One of two awards of the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy goes to the
U.S.-based Room to Read for its effective program, Promoting Gender
Equality and Literacy through Local Language Publishing. Operating in
nine countries — Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Lao People's Democratic
Republic, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam and Zambia — the
program has assisted communities in the development of culturally
relevant reading materials in local and minority languages.
The other award of the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy goes to
Collectif Alpha Ujuvi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for its
programme, Peaceful Coexistence of Communities and Good Governance in
North Kivu. The program uses an innovative model for preventing and
resolving tensions and conflicts among individuals and communities.
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