Founded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1967, International Literacy Day is a holiday meant to raise awareness and action towards worldwide literacy and education for all.
According to the International Reading Association, it is estimated that 860 million of the world’s adults do not know how to read or write, and more than 100 million children lack access to education. Literacy can play an important role in virtually every part of a person’s life.
Here are just a few facts:
Teaching mothers to read can lead to a decrease in infant mortality of up to 50%.
Annual health care costs in the U.S. are four times higher for individuals with low literacy skills than they are for individuals with high level literacy skills.
One-half of all adults in U.S. federal and state correctional institutions cannot read or write at all; 85% of juvenile offenders have reading problems.
(Facts provided by ProLiteracy Worldwide: Facts about Literacy, www.proliteracy.org)
A number of events are held throughout the world on International Literacy Day and awards are given for individuals and organizations who have made important efforts and achievements in literacy activism. For ideas and information on how to promote global literacy and get involved in making a change, visit the International Reading Association’s website and download their “Idea Starters” sheet.
“The world has changed and will continue to do so. We have two choices with how to move forward: we can sit, curled up in a little ball, rocking back and forth while hoping it will fix itself, or we can get out there (age being no barrier as I’m eighty-two years old) and do something about it.”
—Bill Mollison, founder of Permaculture, from his essay “Getting Ready for Change” in Hope Beneath Our Feet
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