Global Literacy Matters

The fight for literacy has recently seen a great deal of success in South Africa. The country’s Kha ri Gude literacy program reported that it has registered more than two million adults for basic literacy education since its inception in April of 2008. The government-sponsored campaign consists of a massive network of volunteer educators who oversee a minimum of 18 students each year. These educators are just one part of a hierarchy of local supervisors and district coordinators who report to the Department of Basic Education. Through this system, Kha ri Gude is able to not only distribute hundreds of thousands of sets of comprehensive curriculum materials, but also collect learner portfolios to measure and assess students’ skill levels upon completion of the program. The result is that more than 40,000 literacy classes take place across South Africa each year, and 80 percent of those enrolled complete the six-month program. The program’s efforts are dedicat...

We recently asked our partners and members to share an inspirational story through words or photos about the importance of literacy and education for women. We will be posting short stories on Facebook, Twitter, and our International Programs blog as we count down to International Women’s Day on March 8th! The story below is one that our partner in Tanzania recently sent us. Najma is 13 years old and lives in the municipality of Moshi in Tanzania. She attended a short training organized by Solidarity of People living with HIV/AIDS in the Kilimanjaro Region. The course was part of capacity building program for Positive Youths – living with HIV/AIDS. Using the skills learned in the program, Najma and 10 ot hers are now educating fellow primary school students on how to combat HIV/AIDS, encouraging them to become knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS and to take protective measures to avoid contracting the disease. For those already living with HIV, Najma and her peers talk about good health pract...

Women celebrating from Sudanese NGO, My Sister's Keeper In July 2011, South Sudan will become an independent nation, Africa’s 55th country, and the world’s youngest state. After two decades of civil war and high poverty levels, the new country will face many challenges. Literacy and education will play a vital role in charting a new course for South Sudan. A recent policy paper published by UNESCO discusses how education will be a first step toward the construction of peace and a better future for the people of South Sudan.The policy paper reveals that women face some of the most imminent challenges in terms of access to education. Today, only around 8 percent of women in South Sudan are literate, possibly the lowest female literacy rate in the world. Young girls in South Sudan face extreme disadvantages in education. Girls are less likely to enter school and more likely to drop out early. Today, a young girl in South Sudan is three times more likely to die in pregnancy or ch...

One of ProLiteracy's projects has been turned into a video ! Called the Oxcart Project, the project is as simple as it sounds. Through donations of about $280 U.S., the project, located in Niger, loans village women an ox and a cart, which the women then rent to villagers who are in need of transportation for everything from emergency care to market shopping. "With the rental revenues, the women eventually pay back the loan and own the oxcart," explains Hauoa Diatta, founder and president of Micro-Credit in Africa (MICA), which manages the project. "The oxcart project allows women to gain economic empowerment, and that in turn empowers the entire village." The Oxcart Project provides Nigerien women opportunities to engage in commercial ventures through women's literacy and micro enterprise programs as well as leadership workshops, AIDS education, job skill training, first aid training, and computer training. ProLiteracy, the world's largest nonprofit org...

The worldwide HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to expand. According to UNAIDS , 33.3 million people live with HIV, including 2.5 million children. In 2009, some 2.6 million people became newly infected with the virus and an estimated 1.8 million people died from complications from AIDS. The great tragedy of this disease, which has already taken more lives than all casualties from World War II, is that it is largely preventable; furthermore many treatment alternatives can be employed but are not. In those places where there is not a base of shared community knowledge and attitude regarding the realities of HIV/AIDS transmission, prevention, and treatment, the disease will continue to spread at a growing rate. At left, KALA holds a health literacy discussion group with local women in the community Efforts to disseminate medicine and information can make a life-saving difference for millions. Unfortunately, these efforts have limited impact if not accompanied by an effective educational compo...

International Literacy Day Ethiopia EHRCEPA The Ethiopian Human Rights and Civic Education Promotion Association (EHRCEPA) is an Ethiopian non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting human rights, providing voter education, and fighting harmful traditional practices, particularly those that affect women. Through “door to door” education and counseling, workshops, panel discussions, and school drama competitions, EHRCEPA encourages participants to address controversial women’s rights and citizenship issues. During the traditional village-level “coffee ceremony,” men and women use pictures, skits, songs, or dances to discuss sensitive issues such as individual rights, early marriage, abduction, domestic violence, and female genital mutilation. EHRCEPA also conducts workshops with business, civic, religious, and local government leaders on voter education, good governance, and elections. By donating to ProLiteracy right now, you will help these women and men receive the tools nec...

ProLiteracy champions the power of literacy to improve the lives of adults and their families, communities, and societies. We envision a world in which everyone can read, write, compute, and use technology to lead healthy, productive, and fulfilling lives. Our international partners champion the power of literacy every day. One of our spotlight programs is MICA (micro c redi t in Africa), a non governmental organization devoted to alleviating poverty in Niger by educating and empowering women. Niger is estimated to be one of the poorest countries in the world with 61% of the population living on less than one dollar per day. Women comprise two-thirds of that population. The literacy statistics are just as sobering -only 28.7% of the population can read or write. MICA is currently providing opportunities for 2,744 women to engage in commercial ventures through its women's literacy and micro enterprise programs as well as leadership workshops, AIDS education, job skill training, fi...