 The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has celebrated International Literacy Day on September 8 each year since 1967. It calls attention to the need to eradicate illiteracy, one of UNESCO's primary concerns. The past two decades have seen a massive and profound transformation and restructuring of economic activities worldwide. Thanks to the constant and sustained efforts of all concerned, the tide is turning: the illiteracy rate, estimated at 45 per cent 50 years ago, has fallen to circa 23 per cent. This is an even more remarkable achievement in that, over the same period, the world population has continued to rise. Incidence of poor literacy skills has long been recognized as a major problem for developing countries; until relatively recently, however, there was little public awareness of the literacy problems of adults in industrialized countries and of the consequences of poor literacy skills for societal and individual economic success. 
Adult literacy is increasingly understood to be fundamental to industrialized nations’ economic performance, and also to individuals’ social and economic well-being, especially in the context of rapid social and economic change. Literacy should be seen as an important evolutionary variable in every society. The more a society progresses, the greater is the need for adjustment to new demands and pressures, making literacy a lifelong necessity for all in all societies. It is becoming abundantly clear that the processes by which individuals acquire, maintain and enhance literacy occur within a socio-economic context rife with inequality. This creates an environment conducive to unequal outcomes, which has long-term consequences for societies and individuals: families’ economic well-being and literacy affect how their children face the future—the outcomes of one generation lay the foundation for the conditions and opportunities of the next. Negative outcomes such as economic insecurity and poor literacy skills doubly jeopardize individuals’ life conditions, and render their choice-making more problematic. Moreover, both economic insecurity and marginal literacy skills can limit people’s opportunities, hindering social cohesion and exacerbating social exclusion. We must not allow that to take hold. UNESCO will continue to engage in activities designed to motivate, co-ordinate and mobilize national literacy efforts, as it has officially done since the 1965 World Conference of Ministers of Education on the Eradication of Illiteracy. A profound method of recognizing those who have aided the literacy effort has been the annual UNESCO literacy prizes, instituted by UNESCO in 1966. These are among the many initiatives taken to raise the awareness of public and private authorities, decision-makers, the media and the people concerned with the need for literacy work and the access of all to education. |
