Reducing illiterates by 50%
To mark the International Literacy Day 2012, UNESCO organized in partnership with the Ministry of Education and local NGOs several events and community based activities throughout the country.
These activities mainly focused on awareness raising and included roundtables on this year’s global theme “Cultivating Peace,” special TV advertisements on the educational TV, and distribution of public information material to literacy centres, schools and individuals.
One of the internationally agreed EFA goals is to improve adult literacy levels by 50% by 2015. While the number of illiterates has fallen over the past decade, 775 million adults worldwide – 64% of whom are women – still lack basic reading and writing skills.
During the past few years, the Government of Iraq has shown its firm commitment to fight illiteracy achieving important breakthroughs, including the approval of a new Literacy Law in September 2011. Additionally, a National Literacy Agency for Iraq has been established and a National Literacy Strategy, prepared in cooperation with UNESCO, was endorsed by the Ministry of Education.
This Strategy deals with all four kinds of illiteracy, namely: Illiteracy of Civilizations, Cultural, Technological, and Functional Illiteracy.
It envisages flexible implementation and adaptive approach to new conditions and emerging needs, while aiming at effective planning to maximise available resources.