Action Blog: Literacy

The Lost Potential Tracker is an interactive tool that counts in real-time the increasing number of 10-year-olds who cannot read and understand a simple story since 2015.

Read here to learn more about Educate the Children (ETC) and their work in Nepal. 

Read here to learn about International Literacy Day and how you can be involved every day! 

An estimated 22.8 million children aged 5-16 are out-of-school in Pakistan. At present, Pakistan has the world's second-highest number of out-of-school children (OOSC), representing 44 percent of the total population in this age group. Punjab has the dubious distinction of having the highest average literacy rate in Pakistan of 61%, as it remains lop-sided with deep pockets of illiteracy. A closer examination shows that the provincial average does not tell the complete story and masks the poor situation in the southern districts of the province. In Rahim Yar Khan District, only one in three people is literate.

Leave No Child Behind: Invest in the Early Years Report Summary by Light for the World, Open Society Foundations, International Disability and Development Consortium, Early Childhood Development Action Network, Global Campaign for Education, and Global Campaign for Education-US.

The report begins by highlighting the Sustainable Development Goals where inclusive early childhood education is at the root. Key findings and policy recommendations reflected on funding are discussed globally and with a specific focus on Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The world is witnessing the highest levels of displacement since the Second World War. 65.6 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes.  Among them are nearly 22.5 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18. 

Today’s youth need skills in innovation, cross-cultural collaboration, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). The World Smarts STEM Challenge pairs high school teachers and students from different countries on gender-balanced, collaborative teams.

The #MeToo movement, which took the world by storm last year gave women a platform to discuss the abuse or injustices that they have experienced in their lives.  For many young women and girls it has been an opportunity to speak out and demand change.  But which voices are still silent and who do we still need to listen to?

A webinar hosted by USAID and The Global Reading Network on June 7, 2017 explained important work being done on inclusive education for children with disabilities in developing countries. It discussed USAID's disability and non-discrimination policies and the "All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development" program, which funds projects that use technology and science to improve literacy skills in early grade learners in developing countries . 

buildOn is a nonprofit with a mission to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through service and education by building schools in seven of the economically poorest countries in the world. Schools are constructed in true partnership with local communities and in villages that historically haven’t had an adequate school structure. Community members pledge to send girls to the new school in equal numbers to boys, and local men and women are given equal leadership opportunities in project management and construction. buildOn has altered the lives of hundreds of people, including children like Elizabeth.