KABUL - “The Power of Women’s Literacy” is this year’s International Literacy Day theme. Improving Afghanistan’s literacy is a key development goal for the country, which has only 26 per cent literacy among over 15-year-olds, and only 12 per cent among girls and women over 15 years.

UNESCO and UN Habitat work to support the Government of Afghanistan in tackling the country’s literacy problem, whose Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) sets the national framework for this task. It is essential that everyone working to improve literacy in Afghanistan reach out to communities that are under-served, are vulnerable to exclusion and those who are living in extreme poverty.

Literacy is a fundamental human right contributing to the improvement of health conditions, socioeconomic standards and the overall quality of life. Literacy can also play a crucial role in building and sustaining a peaceful society.

This year’s theme “The Power of Women’s Literacy” highlights the importance of women’s literacy for participation, citizenship, and the development of the family and the community in terms of their economic situation, education and health.

The Afghan Government’s national plans aim to reduce the rate of illiteracy by 50 per cent by 2015. This target is clearly set by the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS), National Education Strategic Plan (NESP), and National Literacy Action Plan. UNESCO and UN-Habitat programmes give practical support to achieving this goal, through UNESCO’s Enhancement of Literacy in Afghanistan Programme (ELA) and UN Habitat’s Learning for Community Empowerment Programme (LCEP-2).

UNESCO’s ELA programme, funded by the Government of Japan, aims at providing quality literacy education to 600,000 beneficiaries, 60 per cent of them women, in 18 provinces of Afghanistan by 2013. The ELA programme will also provide skills development to some graduates of the 9-month literacy class.

UN-Habitat is implementing the LCEP-2 Programme, funded by USAID, which is an integrated approach combining literacy, community banking and the acquisition of productive skills. This will lead to improved livelihoods for more than 250,000 people (60 per cent female) in 20 provinces of Afghanistan.

Everyone in Afghanistan has a role to play to help reduce illiteracy. UNESCO and UN Habitat strongly urge all government ministries, NGOs, civil society groups and the local communities themselves, as well as the international community, to celebrate International Literacy Day’s message of the power of women’s literacy and to continue their commitment towards eradicating illiteracy in the country.