4 Billion People Literate: International Literacy Day 2011

Literacy is a cause for celebration since there are now close to four billion literate people in the world. However, literacy for all – children, youth and adults – is still an unaccomplished goal and an ever moving target. A combination of ambitious goals, insufficient and parallel efforts, inadequate resources and strategies, and continued underestimation of the magnitude and complexity of the task accounts for this unmet goal. Lessons learnt over recent decades show that meeting the goal of universal literacy calls not only for more effective efforts but also for renewed political will and for doing things differently at all levels - locally, nationally and internationally. (Source: UN) ACCESS: Allowing Children a Chance at Education focuses on literacy and educating children in developing nations. Learn more about the youth-based, non-profit ACCESS at accesscharity.ca. Below is a list of resources relating to Literacy, provided by the United Nations:

Links to UN and UN System sites:

In its resolution A/RES/56/116, the General Assembly proclaimed the ten year period beginning 1 January 2003 the United Nations Literacy Decade. In resolutionA/RES/57/166, the Assembly welcomed the International Plan of Action for the Decade and decided that Unesco should take a coordinating role in activities undertaken at the international level within the framework of the Decade.

Unesco
International Literacy Day
UN Literacy Decade (2003-2012)
UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014)
Literacy for All
Education for All
Literacy Exchange - World Resources on Literacy
EDUCAIDS - The Global Initiative on Education and HIV/AIDS

United Nations
Literacy rates - Achieve universal primary education (Millennium Development Goal 2)
UN Education Portal
UN Works for Women - Education
UN Literacy Decade - Education for All (2003-2012)
UN Cyberschoolbus

UNICEF
UN Girls' Education Initiative
Basic education and gender equality
Teachers Talking about Learning

United Nations Development Programme
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education(Millennium Development Goals)

World Bank Group
International Literacy Day
Achieve universal primary education (Millennium Development Goal 2)
Education

A Child in the Dominican Republic | ACCESS