KABUL - Three United Nations agencies in Afghanistan today urged the government and development partners to take “serious action” towards improving access to “quality and relevant” literacy programmes in the country.

Speaking at a joint press conference on the eve of International Literacy Day, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat) said such programmes should be focused in the areas that are “most underserved, most vulnerable to exclusion and with high numbers of persons living in extreme poverty”.

“Literacy is a fundamental human right contributing to improved health conditions, raising socio-economic standards and improving the overall quality of life,” said a joint statement issued at a press conference by Shigeru Aoyagi, the UNESCO Director in Afghanistan; Catherine Mbengue, UNICEF Representative; and Michael Slingsby, UN Habitat Representative.

“Furthermore, literacy plays a crucial role in building and sustaining a peaceful society.”

The theme of this year’s Literacy Day that will be observed tomorrow is the empowering role of literacy and its importance for participation, citizenship and development, with the slogan: “The Power of Literacy”.

The three UN agencies have spearheaded separate literacy programmes across the country: UNESCO’s Enhancement of Literacy in Afghanistan Programme, UNICEF’s Women’s Literacy and Empowerment Project and UN Habitat’s Learning for Community Empowerment Programme.

There are also classes organised and implemented directly by the Literacy Department of the Ministry of Education.

“Together these and other programmes aim to contribute towards the Education for All Goal of reducing the rate of illiteracy by 50 percent by the year 2015 in line with the literacy targets of the ANDS (Afghan National Development Strategy), NSP (National Solidarity Programme) and National Literacy Action Plan,” said the joint statement.

Funded by the Government of Japan, the Enhancement of Literacy in Afghanistan programme aims to provide basic literacy and post-literacy skills through 4,000 classes to 600,000 people - 60 percent of them women, in 13 provinces by 2013.

An integrated approach combining literacy, community banking and the acquisition of productive skills, UN Habitat's programme – funded by the United States Agency for International Development - will lead towards access to improved livelihoods for more than 310,000 people in 20 provinces.

UNICEF provides support to the Ministry of Education to implement women’s literacy courses, which benefit to an average of 80,000 women each year. Around 400,000 women have benefited from this assistance since 2006.

Afghanistan remains one of the countries to have one on the lowest literacy rates in the world, where only 34 per cent of the population can read and write and the majority of these people live in urban areas.

The statistics for the rural areas are more alarming. “Of the approximately 74 percent of Afghans living in these areas, it is estimated that 90 percent of women and 63 percent of men lack literacy skills,” said the joint statement.

The three UN agencies - together with five others (FAO, UNFPA, WFP, ILO and WHO) - have developed a UN Literacy Joint Programme that will complement the ongoing activities led by the Ministry of Education and other key players involved in the sector.

The UN officials also told the press conference that the security situation continues to be one of the main challenges to their work. However, they said, literacy programmes are ongoing mainly due to their close engagement with local communities.

By Tilak Pokharel, UNAMA

Website: UNESCO-Afghanistan
Website: UNICEF-Afghanistan
Website: UN Habitat-Afghanistan