A/RES/68/132
Literacy for life: shaping future agendas
particular children, to education in their own language, when possible, as addressed
in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 3
Noting with deep concern that, according to the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization, 774 million adults do not have basic literacy
skills and 57 million children of primary school age remain out of school, that
millions more young people leave school without a level of literacy adequate for
productive and active participation in their societies, that the issue of literacy may
not be sufficiently high on national agendas to generate the kind of political and
economic support required to address global literacy challenges and that the world
is unlikely to meet those challenges if present trends continue,
Affirming that the realization of the right to education, especially for girls,
contributes to the promotion of human rights, gender equality and the eradication of
poverty,
Recognizing the importance of continuing to implement national programmes
and measures to eliminate illiteracy worldwide as reflected in the Dakar Framework
for Action on Education for All, adopted on 28 April 2000 at the World Education
Forum, 4 and in the Millennium Development Goals, and in this regard also
recognizing the important contribution of South-South and triangular cooperation
through, inter alia, innovative pedagogical methods in literacy,
Deeply concerned about the persistence of the gender gap in education, which
is reflected by the fact that, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization, nearly two thirds of the world’s non-literate adults are
women,
Concerned that, according to United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization estimates, one third of the children not attending school are
children with disabilities and that the literacy rate among adults with disabilities is
as low as 3 per cent in some countries,
Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Director-General of the
1.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on the final
evaluation of the implementation of the International Plan of Action for the United
Nations Literacy Decade; 5
2.
Commends the efforts made by Member States, their development
partners, the international donor community, the private sector, civil society and the
specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system,
including the lead organization for the Decade, the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization, in making progress on the goals of the Decade;
Recognizes the importance of continuing to implement national
3.
programmes and measures to eliminate illiteracy worldwide, enhancing further
political and financial commitments, in particular for youth and adult literacy and
non-formal education, intensifying collective efforts through enhanced education
systems and interventions, and building a robust knowledge and technical base
through improved literacy monitoring, assessment and research;
_______________
3
Resolution 61/295, annex.
See United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Final Report of the World
Education Forum, Dakar, Senegal, 26–28 April 2000 (Paris, 2000).
5
See A/68/201.
4
2/3