September is Basic Education and Literacy month.
This is a cause that is absolutely vital in bridging the gaping divide for those less privileged, especially the children.
Education is fundamental to their ability to surmount challenges in the future.
In Rotary year 2019 Basic Education and Literacy ranked as the third highest area of focus with funding of over US$12.5 million to support projects worldwide.
Grants from The Rotary Foundation help alleviate the plight of the seventeen percent of the world’s adult population who are illiterate. For people who would otherwise have been isolated by their educational disadvantage, it provides a path to connect to the world.
“Education has the power to lift families up, make real change, modify behaviour, create healthy habits and open minds. It creates security and safety in families so that they can support, provide and make informed and empowered decisions.”
Literacy, as part of education, is a fundamental human right. Yet there are, according to UNESCO, 781 million illiterate adults (over the age of 15) around the globe. Over 63% of those adults are women. In countries like Niger, literacy rates are as low as 24%.
Fundamental human rights are just that — fundamental. These figures are also important because literacy (and numeracy) is one of the key ingredients to ending extreme poverty.
As former UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said in 2015: “The future starts with the alphabet.”
