UN Chronicle | "Literacy as Freedom" - United Nations Launches Literacy Decade (2003-2012)

"Literacy as Freedom" — United Nations Launches Literacy Decade (2003-2012)
By Horst Rutsch for the Chronicle

Web Article

The United Nations on 13 February 2003 launched the Literacy Decade (2003-2012), under the theme, "Literacy as Freedom". With over 860 million adults worldwide who cannot read or write—one in five adults—and more than 113 million children out of school, efforts to extend literacy under the Decade will be coordinated by the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Literacy efforts have so far failed to reach the poorest and most marginalized groups, according to UNESCO, and priority attention will be given to the most disadvantaged groups, especially women and girls, ethnic and linguistic minorities, indigenous populations, migrants and refugees, disabled persons, and out-of-school children and youth. The implementation of the Decade's plan of action, prepared by UNESCO, is structured around themes with biennial focuses, such as gender, poverty, health, peace and freedom.

At the launch ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette said, "Literacy remains part of the unfinished business of the 20th century. One of the success stories of the 21st century must be the extension of literacy to include all humankind." Emphasizing that two thirds of the 860 million illiterate adults were women, Ms. Fréchette said literacy was a prerequisite for a "healthy, just and prosperous world", noting that there is no tool for development more effective than the education of girls and women. For that reason, the first two years of the Decade will focus on "Literacy and gender". "When women are educated and empowered, the benefits can be seen immediately: families are healthier; they are better fed; their income, savings and reinvestment go up", she said. "And what is true of families is true of communities—ultimately, indeed, of whole countries." There was no time to lose if the world was to meet the Millennium Development Goal of increasing literacy rates by one half by 2015, she said.

Also at the ceremony, UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura stressed that through literacy, the downtrodden could find their voice, the poor could learn how to learn and the powerless could empower themselves. The drive for universal literacy was integrally linked to the human rights agenda. Literacy was not a universal panacea for all development problems, but, as a tool of development, it was both versatile and proven. The literacy as freedom initiative was designed to "free people from ignorance, incapacity and exclusion" and empower them for action, choices and participation, he said. Highlighting the enormity of the challenge, he said the spread of literacy required stamina and staying power from all partners, noting that the growth rate of world literacy had slowed in recent years.

President Natsagiin Bagabandi of Mongolia, the original sponsor of the Literacy Decade resolution adopted by the 56th General Assembly in December 2001, warned that the international community would fail to guarantee equal human rights for all as long as it accepted illiteracy. Literacy was not only the primary requirement for economic well-being, but also a solid base for a lifelong investment in a better and happy life. President Bagabandi said that the virtual elimination of illiteracy called for an effective partnership based on redoubled efforts, resource mobilization and coordination of relevant policies and strategies at the global level. Education empowered people so they could effectively overcome underdevelopment, poverty and unemployment, and contribute to the cause of sustainable development and democracy.

A second ceremony, held at the New York Public Library and sponsored by UNESCO and the New York-based United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA), featured, among others, Secretary-General Kofi Annan, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador H.R.H. Princess Firyal of Jordan and as guest of honour, First Lady of the United States Laura Bush, who will serve as Honorary Ambassador for the Decade of Literacy.

Stressing that "literacy is the key to unlocking the cage of human misery, the key to delivering the potential of every human being, the key to opening up a future of freedom and hope", Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted that the Literacy Decade was "a reminder that literacy is a human right". That was especially true of female literacy. "We know from study after study that there is no tool for development more effective than the education of girls and women." Mr. Annan also urged the international community to redouble efforts to promote the education of girls, who make up the majority of children worldwide who are not in school.

Noting that literacy was a precondition to education and that "in every country and culture, literacy means freedom, power and opportunity", Mrs. Bush stressed that education was "the most important long-term investment all of us make in our future". She highlighted the need to turn the ideal of universal literacy into a reality. "Advancing education is fundamental to the development of nations and of generations", she said. "These are not simply goals for the next decade, these are moral responsibilities every nation must embrace."

Mrs. Bush further announced that the United States, which recently rejoined UNESCO after 18 years, has set aside $333 million in 2003 for international primary, secondary and college education. Of that amount, some $200 million would be for basic education, with $100 million for education in Africa.

Excerpts from Secretary-General Kofi Annan's speech at the ceremony

We must rededicate ourselves to the eradication of adult illiteracy. Here, the best approaches we know are those that are based on community action which takes into account local context and conditions, and puts the needs of the learners at the centre—with backing from Governments, international organizations and civil society.

Look at the women in a district in Tamil Nadu, India, where 15 years ago the literacy rate was well below the national average. While learning how to read and write, these women wanted to teach women in other, more remote villages the same. How to reach them? They learned to ride bicycles. Within three years, the district was declared fully literate.

Or look at a team of volunteers in war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo, who teach in the local language, Ngbaka, through which they introduce Lingala, the national language, as well as French. The project has continued despite the war because it is run by local people, adapted to their needs, at low cost.

Or listen to a learner in rural Haiti, who was 86 years old when he uttered these words: "If I'm capable at the end of the project of signing my name, or understanding what's happening when they fetch me for the elections, I know I'll have lived for something."

Links

World Literacy in Brief

United Nations Literacy Decade portal

International Literacy Day is celebrated every year on 8 September

Some Thoughts on International Literacy Day by Amartya Sen

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