Unless trends change, 700 million adults will still be illiterate in 2015, says UNESCO’s Director-General

• © UNESCO/Sake Rijpkema

22-04-2009
The Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura has voiced concern that literacy remains a preeminent global challenge, as well as being one of the most neglected Education for All goals.

His comments came during the 2009 Global Action Week which this year focuses on youth and adult literacy and life-long learning.

“Achieving literacy for all is a collective responsibility”, the Director-General said. “According to estimates from the 2009 EFA Global Monitoring Report, unless current trends are changed, 700 million adults will still be unable to read and write in 2015, only 10 per cent fewer than today. We simply cannot let this happen.”

A staggering 776 million young people and adults, or 16 per cent of the global adult population, are currently on the margins of society due to a lack of literacy and numeracy skills. To this end, the Director-General mentioned UNESCO’s close collaboration with Member States and EFA partners to advocate for greater strategic collaboration, innovation and policy shifts in the field of literacy, notably through its role as global coordinator for Education for All and the UN Literacy Decade (2003-2012), as well as through country-level programmes such as the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE).

As illiteracy continues to disproportionally affect disadvantaged populations and the gender gap remains unchanged with women still comprising two-thirds of illiterate adults, Mr Matsuura urged the international community to focus on expanding access to basic education and improving the quality of teaching and learning, beginning with an urgent scaling-up of financial resources.

This year’s Global Action Week events provide opportunities to raise the status of literacy on policy agendas and emphasize the indispensable role literacy plays in the achievement of all of the internationally agreed development goals. Under the slogan ‘Open Books, Open Doors’, coinciding with World Book and Copyright Day, a range of activities will take place at UNESCO headquarters in Paris on 23 April at UNESCO HQ.