International Literacy Day | |
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Observed by | All UN Member States |
Date | 8 September |
Next time | 8 September 2025 |
Frequency | Annual |
International Literacy Day is an international observance, celebrated each year on 8 September, UNESCO declared that on 26 October 1966 at the 14th session of UNESCO's General Conference. It was celebrated for the first time in 1967. It aims is to highlight, the importance of literacy to individuals, communities, and societies. Celebrations take place in several countries. [1] [2] [3]
Some 775 million lack minimum literacy skills; one in five adults are still not literate and two-thirds of, them are women; [4] 60.7 million children are out of school and many more attend irregularly or drop out. [5] [6] According to UNESCO’s "Global Monitoring Report on Education for All (2006)", [7] South Asia has the lowest regional adult literacy rate (58.6%), followed by sub-Saharan Africa (59.7%). [8] Countries with the lowest literacy rates in the world are Burkina Faso (12.8%), Niger (14.4%) and Mali (19%). The report shows a clear connection between illiteracy and countries in Extreme poverty and between illiteracy and prejudice against women. [9]
Celebrations of International Literacy Day have included specific themes, in line with Education For All goals and other United Nations programs such as the United Nations Literacy Decade. [10]
The themes for celebrations and activities over the years are as follows:
2007 and 2008
The theme was “Literacy and Health”, with prizes awarded to organizations at the forefront of health education. [11] This was also the thematic emphasis of the 2007–2008 United Nations Literacy Decade biennium. [12] In particular, International Literacy Day 2008 strongly emphasizes Literacy and Epidemics with a focus on communicable diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria some of the world's forefront public health concerns.
2009–2010
For this celebration, the emphasis was placed on “Literacy and Empowerment”, [13] with special consideration to gender equality and the Empowerment of women.
2011–2012
The theme of the 2011–2012 celebrations was “Literacy and Peace”. [14]
2022
The theme was Transforming Literacy Learning Spaces [15] to reconsider the basic significance of literacy learning spaces for fostering resilience and guaranteeing high-quality, equitable, and inclusive education for all.
2023
The theme for the 2023 celebration was Promoting Literacy for a World in transition: Building the foundation for Sustainable and Peaceful Societies. [16] [17]
2024
Promoting multilingual education: Literacy for mutual understanding and peace was the theme for the celebration. [18] [19]
The following writers are supporting UNESCO through the Writers for Literacy Initiative: [20] Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster, Philippe Claudel, Paulo Coelho, Philippe Delerm, Fatou Diome, Chahdortt Djavann, Nadine Gordimer, Amitav Ghosh, Marc Levy, Alberto Manguel, Anna Moi, Scott Momaday, Toni Morrison, Érik Orsenna, Gisèle Pineau, El Tayeb Salih, Francisco Jose Sionil, Wole Soyinka, Amy Tan, Miklós Vámos, Abdourahman Waberi, Wei Wei, Banana Yoshimoto. Not only the writers contribute to raising awareness to the problem of illiteracy: along with the writers’ engagement, there are various companies and charity organizations that support the fight against illiteracy. Some supporters of International Literacy Day include the Global Development Research Center, Montblanc, the National Institute for Literacy, and Rotary International.
"At a time when we need to reinvent a world of hope, literacy is more important than ever. On this International Day, I thus invite all those involved in education to redouble their investments and mobilize all their resources to unleash the potential of each individual in the service of a shared world." — Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director General, on the occasion of International Literacy Day [21]
Literacy is the ability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was understood solely as alphabetical literacy ; and the period after 1950, when literacy slowly began to be considered as a wider concept and process, including the social and cultural aspects of reading and writing and functional literacy.
The United Nations General Assembly declared May 3 to be World Press Freedom Day or just World Press Day, observed to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and marking the anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration, a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in Windhoek in 1991.
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National Poetry Month, a celebration of poetry which takes place each April, was introduced in 1996 and is organized by the Academy of American Poets as a way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States. The Academy of American Poets' website Poets.org serves as a hub for information about local poetry events during the month. The organization also provides free educational resources to teachers for classroom celebrations and activities, and commissions an annual festival poster. Since 1998, National Poetry Month has also been celebrated each April in Canada.
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The UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy recognizes the activities of outstanding individuals, governments or governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in literacy serving rural adults and out-of-school youth, particularly women and girls. The Prize was established in 2005 through the support of the Government of the People's Republic of China in honour of the great Chinese scholar Confucius. It is part of the International Literacy Prizes, which UNESCO awards every year in recognition of excellence and inspiring experiences in the field of literacy throughout the world. The Confucius Prize offers two awards of US$20,000 each, a medal and a diploma, as well as a study visit to literacy project sites in China.
Education in Niger, as in other nations in the Sahelian region of Africa, faces challenges due to poverty and poor access to schools. Although education is compulsory between the ages of seven and fifteen, with primary and secondary school leading into optional higher education, Niger has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world. With assistance from external organizations, Niger has been pursuing educational improvement, reforming how schools utilize languages of instruction, and exploring how the system can close gender gaps in retention and learning.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It has 194 member states and 12 associate members, as well as partners in the non-governmental, intergovernmental and private sector. Headquartered in Paris, France, UNESCO has 53 regional field offices and 199 national commissions.
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