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International Literacy Day 2023: History, significance and this year's theme
International Literacy Day on September 8 promotes the importance of literacy for dignity, human rights, and sustainable societies.
International Literacy Day is celebrated on September 8 every year to promote the importance of literacy for dignity and human rights, and a literate and sustainable society.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1966, at the 14th session of its General Conference, announced the event and the first International Literacy Day was celebrated in 1967.
The theme of International Literacy Day 2023 is ‘Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies’.
“Rapidly changing global context took a new meaning over the past years, hampering the literacy progress and widening inequalities across world regions, countries, and populations. In low- and middle-income countries, the share of 10-year-old children who could not read and understand a simple text with comprehension has increased from 57 per cent in 2019 to an estimated 70 per cent in 2022,” UNESCO said in a statement.
“ILD2023 will be an opportunity to join efforts to accelerate progress towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) on education and lifelong learning and to reflect on the role of literacy in building more inclusive, peaceful, just, and sustainable societies,” it said.
At the global level, UNESCO will hold a conference at its headquarters in Paris. This will also include the award ceremony of the UNESCO International Literacy Prizes 2023.
