Rationale - what it means and why it is an important measure
Literacy is important: - as a human right, - for inner discovery and self-liberation, - for creating and sharing knowledge and wisdom universally, - for individual and community empowerment for all (female and male), - as a tool for integrated sustainable development, - for an active contribution to the information revolution, - for overcoming exclusion, - for learning throughout life, - as a tool for participation, democratization and political freedom (UNESCO, 2000).
UNESCO estimates that 880 million of the world’s adults are unable to read or write (two-thirds of this number are females). The percentage of adults without any reading or writing skills in the world has steadily declined from more than one-third (37 per cent) in 1970 to a quarter (25 per cent) in 1990, and is projected to drop below one-fifth at the beginning of the new millennium.
