|
The scale and character of the global literacy
challenge, furthermore, are greater than these
statistics indicate, for two main reasons. First, it
is evident that large numbers of children emerge
from processes of primary education without a secure
command of essential literacy competencies. Many
developed countries, despite their highly organized
and well-resourced education systems, are finding
that a significant proportion of children have a
limited grasp of core literacy skills. With far
fewer resources and facing enormous problems of
poverty, exclusion and marginalization, many
developing countries are finding it difficult to
staunch the flow of children who leave school barely
able to read and write. Within a few years, many of
these children will join the hidden ranks of the
functionally illiterate.
Second, the limited availability of concrete
opportunities for adults to acquire, maintain and
improve their literacy skills and learning
capacities means that hundreds of millions of
people, especially women, are condemned to a
lifetime of illiteracy. In the twenty-first century,
such a situation is unconscionable.
It is to
address both of these challenges, which are related
to each other and linked to other educational and
development problems, that the drive to achieve
Education for All (EFA) has been mounted. Closely
associated with EFA is the United Nations Literacy
Decade (2003-2012), led and coordinated by UNESCO,
which aims at mobilizing greater national and
international efforts to achieve the Dakar goal of
reducing illiteracy rates by half by 2015.
This year, International Literacy Day is devoted to
the role of literacy in sustainable development.
This is especially fitting since 2005 has seen the
launch of the United Nations Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development (2005-2014), for which
UNESCO is the lead agency and international
coordinator.
As the foundation of all subsequent education,
training and learning, literacy is essential for
sustainable human development in today´s complex and
fast-changing societies. In such societies,
rudimentary literacy skills are not enough for
effective communication and participation. In
addition, literacy itself is acquiring new
dimensions in response to technological and cultural
change.
Consequently, literacy capacities need to be
supplemented and updated so that individuals can
deal with changing conditions and new uncertainties
with confidence. The sustainability of literacy
demands such adaptation.
The fulcrum of
the relationship between literacy and sustainable
development is citizenship, understood not as a
formal entitlement but as the active, creative and
dynamic activity of people as they shape and
re-shape their lives. In this perspective, literacy
is a precondition of effective social participation
and a tool of empowerment at individual and
community levels. A flexible set of literacy-based
capabilities is essential for meeting the challenge
of sustainable development.
How we learn to adapt will determine our welfare and
security, and perhaps our very survival.
Literacy
programmes are useful and effective vehicles for
transmitting ideas and information pertinent to
education for sustainable development (ESD). In some
cases, such as literacy projects linked to income
generation or sustainable livelihoods, a close
synthesis is possible. Meanwhile, the orientation of
literacy programmes towards empowerment, inclusion
and local relevance, is likely to be a powerful
influence on ESD approaches, especially in
non-formal settings.
On International Literacy Day 2005, I call upon
governments, international organizations, civil
society and the private sector to give renewed
attention and support to literacy as a vital
instrument for achieving sustainable development. In
this month when the world´s leaders will meet in New
York to examine progress since the Millennium
Declaration five years ago, it is timely to recall
that education in general and literacy in particular
are vital means for achieving sustainability, which
is rooted in human capacities and their development.
Koïchiro Matsuura
UNESCO Director General
|
