Call to Eradicate Illiteracy

Today on International Literacy Day, Graduate Women International (GWI) calls for all governments, regional and international policy makers to take the steps necessary to eradicate illiteracy in view of achieving Goals 4 and 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to provide equitable and inclusive quality education and life-long learning opportunities for all and attain gender equality, empowering women and girls everywhere respectively. The theme of International Literacy Day 2015 is Literacy and Sustainable Societies. As well as a basic human right for men and women, literacy is a catalyst for sustainable development and a prerequisite for learning the knowledge, skills and values required for creating sustainable societies.

According to the latest data released by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, while literacy rates for adults continue to rise, girls and women continue to lag behind. For example in Afghanistan, only 18% of women are able to read and write, compared to 45% of men. Poor literacy limits a person’s ability to accomplish tasks that are necessary to make informed choices and participate fully in everyday life. Tasks that illiterate people cannot perform include: reading a medicine label, reading a nutritional label on a food product, balancing a chequebook, filling out a job application and working out change at a supermarket (the World Literacy Foundation, August 2015). When people lack literacy, society as a whole suffers from lost opportunities for higher productivity, shared prosperity and political participation (The EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2010).

Illiterate adults, particularly mothers, are more likely to have poor nutritional and hygiene practices in their homes, leading to a higher rate of disease, accidents and other health issues. In developing countries, a child born to a mother who can read is 50 percent more likely to survive past the age of five (UNESCO, 2010). Illiteracy also increases the likelihood of high-risk sexual behavior, due to lack of awareness about sexual and reproductive health, as well as inadequate use of contraception. Unawareness of contraceptive methods increases the likelihood of adult and adolescent pregnancy. Consequently, young new mothers are more unlikely to undertake further education or enter the workforce (Martinez, R & Fernandez, P, 2010).

Improving literacy skills, for girls and women, in particular, is a key step in improving their own economic prospects and creating stronger communities and families. All programmes for action must recognise and make provision for the vulnerability of girls and women, who account for two-thirds of the 756 million illiterate people in the world (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, September 2015). Girls and women are disproportionately affected by illiteracy, which perpetuates their position of socio-economic vulnerability and dependency, and further exacerbates the global gap in gender equality. Technology offers greater opportunity to access education for all groups of society, especially for rural, indigenous and disabled girls and women, to be included in literacy campaigns. Reading, writing and numeracy skills are essential building blocks for all levels of education beyond primary, from secondary to tertiary and continuing education.

Literacy is a critical link in accessing education and, through education, development. Girls and women who know how to read and write are more likely to lift themselves out of poverty, improve their and their families’ health, and sustain long term employment. Governments must make a priority of tackling illiteracy and ensuring that all girls and women have access to education.

Lorraine Mangwiro, GWI