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September 8 is International Literacy Day, a day for promoting literacy as a way to empower people and help them improve their lives.
According to UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), there are 758 million adults and 114 million young people (aged 15 to 24) unable to put a simple sentence together due to illiteracy. That means that 15% of the world can’t read or write.
Efforts have been made to boost worldwide literacy over the years, but lots more work needs to be done. Some areas are in far worse situations than others; sub-Saharan Africa and West Asia have some of the highest levels of illiteracy on earth.
UNESCO is a special agency of the United Nations, which focuses on world peace and security. Fifty years ago, they started International Literacy Day in a bid to boost world literacy.
This year is the 50th anniversary and the theme is ‘Reading the Past, Writing the Future’. The day will be celebrated in schools and communities all over the world.
We’ve been chatting about some of our favourite reads here at First News this week. One of our fave tales is Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse, the moving story of one horse’s experience in World War One. What books do you like?
Agencies/Canadajournal
