Artigenda
International Literacy Day
When: Anually, September 8.
World Literacy Day, also known as International Literacy Day, is a day established by UNESCO to draw attention to illiteracy and low literacy.
Origin of this day
De dag werd op 26 oktober 1966 gepresenteerd tijdens de veertiende UNESCO conferentie en ging een jaar later in. Het doel was om niet alleen de aandacht te vestigen. Ook was het om een einde te maken aan analfabetisme en laaggeletterdheid. Dat de dag er nog steeds is houdt in dat er nog steeds geen einde is gekomen aan deze twee zaken.
This is a day meant for the entire world population. In the Netherlands, there is the Stichting Lezen en Schrijven (Reading and Writing Foundation), which is dedicated to getting everyone to read, write and count. According to its website, 2.5 million people struggle with reading, writing and/or arithmetic. The organisation is not unique to the Netherlands. There are numerous organisations active worldwide that work to combat low literacy and illiteracy.
How do you recognise the signals?
UNESCO has made available a special page entitled “What you need to know about literacy.” You can find more information on this topic on this page. If you want to learn to recognise the signs, read the article “Recognising an illiterate person” by the Fondation pour l’alphabétisation.
Excuses can be used. Think of someone who forgot glasses. Someone without an e-mail address or even someone without a mobile phone could also be someone who is low-literate or illiterate. Yet another option could be someone who has no fixed income.
Social taboo
Whatever the reason, it is about a social taboo. Having trouble reading and writing or not being able to do so at all can be a social taboo.
Global attention
UNESCO calls attention to this issue through this website. Global attention. So that this issue stays on the political agendas or perhaps ends up higher on them. So that one day there might be a day when this day is no longer needed.
UNESCO vraagt via deze website aandacht voor dit onderwerp. Wereldwijde aandacht. Zodat dit onderwerp op de politieke agenda’s blijft staan of misschien hoger op de agenda’s terechtkomt. Zodat er ooit misschien een dag komt waarop deze dag niet meer nodig is.
