- Proclamation: The united nations literary decade was proclaimed by the General assembly for the years starting from 2003 in its A/RES/56/116 resolution and In resolution A/RES/57/166, the Assembly welcomed the” International “and decided that UNESCO would take up different activities for the literacy decade.
- Slogan: The slogan for United Nations Literacy decade (UNLD) is "Literacy as Freedom".
- Mission: The mission and the main aim behind the launch of this decade were to empower literacy and education at all levels.
- Role of UNESCO: On the request of the General Assembly UNESCO is taking care and initiatives for all international activities regarding The Literary Decade.
- Overall target of the decade: Since its inception the main target is to increase the literacy rate by 50% till 2015.
Why Literacy Decade?
The decade was launched for three main reasons:
On a global scale, one in five adults cannot read nor write. According to the latest estimates, 776 million people are illiterate and two-thirds of these are women. In a modern world, such levels are unacceptable.
- Literacy is a human right. Basic education, within which literacy is the key learning tool, was recognized as a human right over 50 years ago, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This right continues to be violated for a large proportion of humanity.
- Literacy efforts up to now have proved inadequate, at national and international levels. The Decade is an opportunity to make a sustained collective effort which will go beyond one-shot programs or campaigns.
According to the plan of The United Nations literary decade “Literacy policies and programs today require going beyond the limited view of literacy that has dominated in the past. Literacy for all requires a renewed vision of literacy….”
