On this day… 8th September – UNESCO International Literacy Day & EU Literacyweek
For todays’ KYH blog I hand over to this special cause:
Approximately 775 million people- 64% of whom are women- are functionally illiterate. In other words, they lack the basic reading and writing skills to manage daily living and employment tasks.
In 1965, UNESCO declared September 8 as International Literacy Day. Since this proclamation, schools, organizations and communities around the world have united to promote awareness with the hope to one day eradicate this on-going human rights violation.
The cost of illiteracy to the global economy is estimated at USD $1.19 trillion. The effects of illiteracy are very similar in both developing and developed nations. This means that the impact of illiteracy – limited opportunities for employment or income generation, higher chances of poor health, propensity towards crime or dependence on social welfare or charity (if available) – can be found wherever illiteracy is found.
Educating girls and women, in particular, has unmatched transformative power. It is estimated that if all women completed primary education, there would be 66% fewer maternal deaths.
Find out more at http://internationalliteracyday.org/
In the EU the 8th September marks the start of Literacy week.
Reading and writing is fundamental to function in today’s society. Not being able, for example, to understand the instructions on a medicine bottle is a scary thought.
Did you know that on average:
1 in 5 adolescents and 1 in 5 adults in Europe lack the literacy skills to understand the instructions on a medicine bottle?
11 persons in every European street can not read or write well?
4 children in every European school class have literacy problems?
Our dream is that every European adult can read and write well enough to fully and independently participate in society.
New2Writing 
I totally agree that if girls were better education, the dividends are far more transformative, not just for themselves but society at large.