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From Empowerment to Development:Open books, open doors!

"It should not be stated, but it has to be, it seems. Literacy is the basis of all learning".

Nadine Gordimer, Nobel Prize in literature

The power of youth and adult literacy and lifelong learning

Global Action Week20 - 26 April 2009

A human right that is enshrined in several international instruments

1948 Universal Declaration 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1997 Hamburg Declaration)

The foundation for lifelong learning

A prerequisite for personal, social and political emancipation and empowerment

Essential for reducing poverty

Key for meeting all of the internationally agreed development objectives

Literacy is…

Ensuring literacy for all

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Goal 3: Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programmes

Goal 4: Achieving a 50% improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults

Goal 6: Improving all aspects of the quality of education (…) so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life-skills

Literacy and life skills cut across all six Education for All goals and are the explicit focus of three

Global literacy challenge: shared commitments

The literacy challenge Benefits of literacy From rhetoric to action UNESCO activities Regional profiles Examples of good practice

Overview / Table of Contents

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In 2006, illiteracy affected 16% of the global adult population, two-thirds of whom were women

Projections estimate at least 700 million illiterate adults in 2015

Projected number of adult illiterates (age 15+), by gender and region, 2015

South and West Asia Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia/Pacific Arab States Latin America/Caribbean

= about 5 million adult illiterates

or Women Men

Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report 2009

The magnitude of the global literacy challenge: facts

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Poor and disadvantaged groups Women and girls Indigenous populations Nomadic communities People living in rural areas Migrants Refugees People with disabilities Prisoners

Who are the excluded?Adult literacy rates can vary up to 40 percentage points between the richest and poorest households within a given country

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Lack of political commitment

Formal primary schooling is often preferred over targeted literacy and non-formal education programmes for youth and adults

Poor quality delivered Insufficient quality, relevance and capacity Weak management and organization

Insufficient funding

Current investments by governments and aid agencies are not sufficient to meet the EFA goals on literacy

Why the world isn’t on track

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Advocating for human rights begins in literacy classrooms, where learners can be informed about their rights and develop abilities to claim, defend and promote them.

“When people are illiterate, their ability to understand and invoke their rights can be very limited”

- Amartya Sen, Nobel Prize for Economics, “Literacy as Freedom”

The right to education encompasses the right to literacy

Self-esteem and empowerment: widening choices, access to other

rights

Political benefits: increased civic participation in community activities,

trade unions and local politics

Cultural benefits: questioning attitudes and norms; improves ability to

engage with one‘s culture

Social benefits: better knowledge of health care, family planning and

HIV/AIDS prevention; higher chance of parents educating children

Economic benefits: increased individual income and economic growth;

returns on investment in adult literacy programmes comparable to those in

primary education

Making the case for literacy: the benefits

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Scale-up effective youth and adult literacy programmes

Enhance quality of programmes

Develop strong national capacity

Expand equivalency and second chance programmes

Build partnerships

Create rich literate environments

Harness the use of ICTs for literacy

Need to increase public spending on basic education and literacy

From rhetoric to action: What needs to be done

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Collaboration across governmental and non-governmental institutional boundaries

Reliable data on literacy levels and needs Quality standards based on solid evidence of what works Respect for diverse contexts and languages Links with other fields of development and broader strategies Rich and dynamic literate environments Monitoring and evaluation systems

Integrated policies for literacy

Adult education and literacy must be included in poverty reduction strategies and national development plans. Policies call for:

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The success of literacy programmes is affected by

Characteristics of learners Training of facilitators Levels of funding Language(s) of instruction Duration Literate environment Community mobilization Links with wider activities such as life skills training

A good literacy program should lead to real change in participants’ daily lives and expand opportunities for further learning

Making literacy programmes more effective

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Literate environments are places that:

Offer access to printed matter, written records, visual materials or advanced technologies

Enable the free exchange of information Provide an array of opportunities for lifelong learning

Developing literate environments requires policies related to:

Languages Book publishing Media Getting books and reading materials into schools and homes

Literate environments to sustain skills

Literate environments need developing at home, in schools, in communities and in the larger society.

Currently, many countries spend less than 1 % of their national education sector budgets on literacy

Action Aid promotes a benchmark of at least 3% of national education budgets for adult literacy

Increased financial support from donors and international aid agencies is needed

Commitment for adult literacy in the EFA Fast-Track Initiative and sector-wide approaches must be enhanced

Scaling-up resources

Lack of adequate funding is the greatest barrier to progress

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The UN Literacy Decade expresses the collective will of the international community to promote Literacy for All, girls and boys, women and men in both developing and developed countries

UNESCO leads the UNLD and promotes literacy by helping create goal-oriented partnerships that encourage inclusive planning and implementation of the Decade

The Literacy Initiative for Empowerment – LIFE – is a key strategic framework for implementing the UNLD (2005)

The United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012): Advocacy in Action!

LIFE provides a collaborative framework of action toaddress the greatest literacy challenges through:

Advocacy and communication to strengthen political will Capacity-building for policy and programme delivery Effective partnerships to raise additional resources Sharing of knowledge and innovations

LIFE targets the 35 countries with literacy rates below 50% or where there

are more than 10 million illiterate people

UNESCO programmatic response: Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE)

LAMP provides countries with a basic framework and tools to measure literacy in order to

improve education statistics, by

providing policy makers with robust information on the literacy and numeracy levels of the young and adult populations

equipping countries with the methodological tools to conduct direct assessments of literacy and numeracy skills

strengthening national capacities to conduct this kind of survey

UNESCO programmatic response: Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme (LAMP)

CONFINTEA VI’s objectives include:

Mobilizing resources and expertise to help countries with high illiteracy rates carry out large-scale literacy programmes

Targeting literacy interventions in order for highly disadvantaged populations to acquire, maintain and improve literacy, numeracy, language and ICT competencies

Launching a vigorous international effort to reduce the high number of youth and adults without literacy skills within a time frame agreed upon in EFA, UNLD and LIFE

CONFINTEA VI: A new momentum for literacy and adult education

Belém, Brazil, 19-22 May 2009

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Facts + Figures- As of 2006, an estimated 161 million adults – 38% of the region’s adult population – were lacking literacy skills (nearly two-thirds are women)

- Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 47% of the global number of out-of-school children

- Nigeria alone accounts for one-ninth of the world’s out-of-school children

Progress- Many countries (e.g. Ethiopia, Ghana and Kenya) are making rapid progress towards Universal Primary Education (UPE) through policy interventions

- During the last 5 years, Tanzania successfully reduced its out-of-school population from more than 3 million to less than half a million

Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report 2009

The literacy challenge: Africa

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Facts + Figures - As of 2006, 58 million adults in the region are considered illiterate, two-thirds of whom reside in four countries (Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Sudan)

- Adult literacy rates in the region remain below the developing country average (79%)

- In 2006, there were 5.7 million out of school children, of which 61% were girls

- In Egypt, more than 95% of out-of-school primary aged children are girls

Progress-The last two decades have seen a pronounced increase in the number of female adult literates (up to 61%)

- Several countries, including Algeria, Morocco and Yemen, are making strong progress towards UPE

Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report 2009

The literacy challenge: Arab States

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Facts + Figures - As of 2006 there were still 37 million illiterate adults in the region, with Brazil accounting for more than one-third (14 million) followed by Mexico (6 million)

- As of 2006, the region accounted for 3.5% of the world’s out-of-school children (2.6 million)

- Speaking an indigenous or non-official language remains a source of disadvantage in the region

Progress- As of 2006, the regional adult literacy rate had reached a high of 91%

- Brazil is the only country with more than 500,000 out-of-school children, but is currently on track to achieve UPE by 2015 and has taken comprehensive measures to increase literacy

Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report 2009

The literacy challenge: Latin America and the Caribbean

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Facts + Figures

- As of 2006, more than 506 million adults continue to be denied the right to literacy in the region—almost two-thirds of the global total

- As of 2006, there were more than 28 million out-of-school children

- Despite progress in reducing gender disparities, girls and women remain at a distinct disadvantage in attending school and acquiring literacy skills

- Adult literacy rates are increasing, but the rate of population growth is such that the absolute numbers of illiterate adults also continues to climb

Progress

-The last three decades have seen significant reductions of adult illiterates in China, India, Indonesia, and the Islamic Republic of Iran

- Rapid progress towards UPE has been seen in several countries (e.g. Cambodia, Myanmar)

Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report 2009

The literacy challenge: Asia

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Facts + Figures - Recent surveys have revealed a skills gap in the region

- Of particular concern are those leaving school early without having acquired basic competencies

- Illiteracy is not contained to minority groups and continues to grow within mainstream populations

Progress- Increased attention on adult learning and education through vocational training to address high unemployment and low economic activity

Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report 2009

The literacy challenge: Europe and North America

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International Literacy Day (8 September)

UNESCO annually rewards innovative, high-quality programmes that are making a real

difference in the lives of individuals

Examples of good practice

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TOSTAN - This non-governmental organization (NGO) works mainly in rural areas to provide literacy and life skills for women. Tostan operates outside the formal education system and is directed at people who, for the most part, have never attended school. Its capacity-building programme for communities aims to provide participants with life skills related to democracy, human rights, female and reproductive health, hygiene, literacy, business management, accounting, and microcredit.

(Winner of the King Sejong Literacy Prize 2007)

Good Practice: Senegal

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Operation Upgrade - This research-based project uses adult literacy and adult basic education to promote social change and development in Kwanibela, a remote and isolated rural community with a high illiteracy rate and prevalence of HIV and AIDS. The Kwanibela Project’s goals of improving the literacy of rural women who head households and improving access to health facilities and sanitation constitute a holistic vision which strongly illustrates the important connection between literacy and health.

(Winner of the Confucius Prize for Literacy 2008)

Good Practice: South Africa

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Curitiba City Council’s Alphabetizando com saude is a programme committed to the idea that mastery of reading and writing is essential to improving the quality of life and health of entire populations.

This programme innovatively targets caregivers (mothers and grandparents) and adults (including the elderly), empowering them with literacy skills in order to reduce infant mortality and improve general health.

((Winner of the UNESCO International Reading Association Literacy Prize 2008)

Good Practice: Brazil

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“I belong to an organization which started out with the intention of getting books into the villages. There was a group of people who in another connection had travelled Zimbabwe at its grass roots. They told me that the villages, unlike what is reported, are full of intelligent people, teachers retired, teachers on leave, children on holidays, old people.

I myself paid for a little survey to discover what people in Zimbabwe want to read, and found the results were the same as those of a Swedish survey I had not known about. People want to read the same kinds of books that we in Europe want to read - novels of all kinds, science fiction, poetry, detective stories, plays, and do-it-yourself books, like how to open a bank account”.

Doris LessingNobel Prize for Literature 2007

Author Testimonies: Doris Lessing

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Let’s act together!

to mobilize stronger commitment

to increase the quality of programmes

to harness new resources