International Literacy Day
| International Literacy Day | |
|---|---|
 International Literacy Day 2007 UNESCO poster |
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| Observed by | All UN Member States |
| Date | 8 September |
September 8 was proclaimed International Literacy Day by UNESCO on November 17, 1965. It was first celebrated in 1966. Its aim is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies. On International Literacy Day each year, UNESCO reminds the international community of the status of literacy and adult learning globally. Celebrations take place around the world.[1]
Some 776 million adults lack minimum literacy skills; one in five adults is still not literate and two-thirds of them are women; 75 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out.
According to UNESCO’s "Global Monitoring Report on Education for All (2008)",[2][3] South and West Asia has the lowest regional adult literacy rate (58.6%), followed by sub-Saharan Africa (59.7%), and the Arab States (62.7%). Countries with the lowest literacy rates in the world are Burkina Faso (12.8%), Niger (14.4%) and Mali (19%). The report shows a clear connection between illiteracy and countries in severe poverty, and between illiteracy and prejudice against women.
The celebration's theme for 2007 and 2008 was “Literacy and Health”. This was also the thematic emphasis of the 2007-2008 biennium of the United Nations Literacy Decade.[4] In particular, International Literacy Day 2008 had a strong emphasis on Literacy and Epidemics with a focus on communicable diseases such as HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria, some of the world's forefront public health concerns.
To raise public awareness of the extraordinary value of the written word and of the necessity to promote a literate society, the following writers are supporting UNESCO through the Writers for Literacy Initiative [5]: Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster, Philippe Claudel, Paulo Coelho, Philippe Delerm, Fatou Diome, Chahdortt Djavann, Nadine Gordimer, Amitav Ghosh, Marc Levy, Alberto Manguel, Anna Moi, Scott Momaday, Toni Morrison, Erik Orsenna, Gisèle Pineau, El Tayeb Salih, Francisco Jose Sionil, Wole Soyinka, Amy Tan, Miklós Vámos, Abdourahman Waberi, Wei Wei, Banana Yoshimoto. Not only writers contribute to raising awareness to the problem of illiteracy. Next to the writers engagement, there are various companies and charity organizations that support the fight against illiteracy. Some supporters of International Literacy Day include the Global Development Research Center, Montblanc, the National Institute for Literacy, and Rotary International. Mohammad Abdul Rub, an Indian Child writer celebrates his birthday on this day. World Literacy Day also signifys the recognition of the country to strive towards total and complete literacy for the nation.
[edit] See also
- Literacy
- List of countries by literacy rate
- UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy
- UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize
- PIMR
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- International Literacy Day official site
- UNESCO's Literacy Portal
- UNESCO Effective Literacy Practice Database
- Gestures not enough to teach the world, by Larry Elliott and Victoria Brittain, September 8, 2000, The Guardian
