International Literacy Day

The world has changed since 1966 – but our determination to provide every woman and man with the skills, capacities and opportunities to become everything they wish, in dignity and respect, remains as firm as ever. Literacy is a foundation to build a more sustainable future for all.

UNESCO Director-General

September, 8 is officially proclaimed by UNESCO International Literacy Day. The main aims of that day is to “actively mobilize the international community and to promote literacy as an instrument to empower individuals, communities and societies”. The day is celebrated worldwide aimed to bring together learners, teachers, communities, private sectors, NGOsand governments. 

Every September 8, on International Literacy Day, my memory goes to the illiterate women of my youth. Poverty and ethnic conflict in my native Greece were severe several decades ago, but they presented the same educational problems as today, writes Helen Abadzi, a Greek psychologist and researcher at the University of Texas at Arlington, Texas. She improveed the outcomes of educational investments by spending twenty-seven years as a senior education specialist at the World Bank.

The whole article "Early literacy: the key to fluency" by Helen Abadzi can be found here.

Literacy is the ability to read and write and it is a fundamental right of every human being.

Beata Jaranowska