Nearly 800 million human beings – of whom 2/3 are women – are illiterate and 57 million school age children don’t have access to schooling
(UNESCO Institute for Statistics)
In her introductory message to the 2013 International Literacy Day, Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director General, declared:
“Literacy is a basic right and an essential motor for human development. It paves the way to autonomy, the acquisition of skills, cultural expression and full participation in society. It is the motor of sustainable and inclusive development”.
Both the statistics and the Director General’s arguments respond perfectly to the motivation of the International NGOs at UNESCO to propose an event, sponsored by the UNESCO-NGO Liaison Committee for the 2014 International Literacy Day. Its title is Literacy: an inescapable step on the path towards Lifelong Education for All.
The proceedings of the International Literacy Day and Lifelong Learning forAll are now available in English and French.
