2016 marks the 50th anniversary of International Literacy Day, shining a spotlight on literacy needs throughout the globe, as well as celebrating five decades of achievements.
UNESCO will celebrate international literacy day under the slogan“Reading the Past, Writing the Future”. On a day that honors the last half a century of progress and initiatives to increase world literacy rates.
It will also address the challenges that still remain in improving literacy rates and review new solutions to further boost literacylevels in the future.
The History of International Literacy Day
Fifty years ago today UNESCO proclaimed 8th September as International Literacy Day, with the objective of highlighting much needed areas of prolific illiteracy under the spotlight.
Since 1966, great efforts have been made throughout the international community to promote reading, writing and education as a way of empowering societies. In 2016 the focus is on innovation, using new technology to bring reading and writing to the masses in impoverished societies.
While various private and public organizations will be collaborating to hold events in honor of this day, the principal celebration will be held at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, and will be a two-day long conference kicking off Thursday with the awarding of Literacy Prizes.
Global Alliance for Literacy (GAL)
UNESCO will also be officiallylaunching the Global Alliance for Literacy (GAL) this year, which is a new venture aimed at promoting literacy as a foundation for lifelong learning.
The Global Alliance for Literacy (GAL) recognizes that literacy remains today one of the biggest challenges of the global world.Despite astounding figures of internet subscribers at over 3 billion and mobile phone subscribers set to reach 4.77 billion by 2017.
The idea behind the forming of the GAL is to launch an invested partnership to empower literacy in the era of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. GAL brings together more than 100 UN and government officials, benefactors and non-governmental organizations, as well as key representatives of the private sector and experts from 34 participating countries.
GAL is a fifteen-year initiative that will be based in Hamburg, Germany, and participants will contribute towards a viable plan of action to foster both sustainable development and literacy.
GAL is set to help Member States accelerate their progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in which literacy plays a vital role.
Global literary rates still vary depending on the country, with some of the lowest rates reported in Niger and South Sudan. Poverty, political discord and lack of infrastructure continue to play a role in the challenge of raising literacy levels internationally.
Spotlight on Language
International Literacy Day raises the question of just how many languages there are in the world, with some 7,000 living languages at last count. Many languages have avery long oral tradition, with Indian languages, such as Tamil and Sanskrit being written down among the last. Whether you’ll celebrate today by reading your favorite novel, or simply spare a thought for those who have yet to discover the alphabet, it will be interesting to track GAL’s progress over the coming years.
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