Global Literacy Matters

Operation Upgrade is the oldest literacy NGO in South Africa. It was founded in 1966 with the active leadership of Frank Laubach, founder of Laubach Literacy International. Based in the city of Durban, Operation Upgrade emphasizes native language and English literacy within the context of varied community and institutional structures, including squatter slums, rural villages, impoverished towns, and workplaces. Operation Upgrade teaches adults to read in Zulu, Venda, Sepedi, Setswana, Xitsonga, Sesotho, and English. With the help of a growing network of 5,000 trained facilitators throughout the country, the organization battles the problems of poverty, malnutrition, and HIV/AIDS through literacy development.UNESCO has invited Operation Upgrade (OU),’s historic partner in South Africa, to participate in the Global Action Week 2009 ( April 20 to 26) in Paris. Pinky Peterson (Itumeleng Lebajoa) , the KwaNibela Programme Manager, and Eunice Ngema, an OU literacy learner, will be pr...

"Literacy helped us understand our own surroundings and our own power as individuals. We learned about our rights and potential." - Adult Learners, Bangladesh

Every day we at ProLiteracy Worldwide are amazed by the new and innovative ways our partners around the globe find to help more people with their literacy programs. We hear of heartwarming stories of how people’s lives have been transformed through these programs. Welcome to ProLiteracy’s International Programs blog. Through this blog, we wish to share with you the joys and successes of literacy that people are experiencing around the world. In addition, this blog will serve as a place to share current news, reports and information pertaining to literacy issues. We would like to welcome all of you to our blog. Your participation is invaluable to us.

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...

On March 11th, 2009 President Obama signed an Executive Order creating the White House Council on Women and Girls. The mission of the Council will be to provide a coordinated federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls and to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs impact women and families. In particular, the Council will work to enhance, support and coordinate the efforts of existing programs for women and girls. The Council will also work as a resource for each agency and the White House so that there is a comprehensive approach to the federal government's policy on women and girls. Although, creation of this council might seem long overdue, it comes as joyful news to organizations such as ProLiteracy, who have worked for years to uplift the lives of women around the world through our women-centered literacy programs. Women, who count for half of the world...