Achieving Literacy Worldwide

Sep. 8, 2008–Learning to read and write seems out of reach for the roughly one out of five adults in the world who are illiterate, and the 75 million children who remain excluded from a basic education. But the good news is that literacy rates are on the rise through the hard work and determination of families, communities and partners throughout the world.

In Nigeria, where more than a third of all women cannot read or write, a 17-year-old girl named Bridget has decided that she will not be deterred from seeking an education. Even though her parents cannot afford to pay her school fees, Bridget has found a way to continue with school in the southern city of Eket. With renewed self-confidence and determination after graduating from CEDPA’s Better Life Options project, Bridget says that “I have come up with the option of working in a shop and earning some money so that I can attend a part-time school.”

September 8 is International Literacy Day, a commemoration established by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to mobilize action against barriers like those faced by Bridget that lead to a lifetime of illiteracy.

Research shows that education can dramatically improve a person’s life and is a vital step in combating poverty. A child born to a literate mother is 50 percent more likely to survive to age five. And, providing girls with one extra year of schooling can boost their wages by up to 20 percent.

Because education is a basic building block in every country’s development, nations around the world promised to achieve universal primary education for all children by 2015. But, more than 70 countries will most likely not meet their goals for universal education. For girls, the goal seems even further out of reach. Fifty-seven percent of out-of-school children in developing countries are girls.

Participatory activities help to improve self-confidence among the girls in the BLO program.

Parents often do not have enough money to send their girls to school, or consider education for girls a “bad investment” since their daughters will eventually marry and live with another family. For those lucky girls who are sent to primary school, many face obstacles to completing their education including pressure to marry and begin childbearing at an early age, or demands to leave school in order to earn an income and care for their family.

Bridget was one of the lucky ones. By participating in CEDPA’s Better Life Option’s program, she received training to build her life skills and improve her confidence and self-esteem—the foundation for personal growth. The program also involved parents and cultural leaders to build community support for girls to go to school and stay in school.

The program uses CEDPA’s Choose a Future! manual which includes sessions on sexual and reproductive health, nutrition and hygiene, self-esteem, life skills, civic responsibility and gender relations. This manual is continuously adapted to address local conditions and to respond to local concerns in Nigeria and worldwide, working hand-in-hand with local educational partners and parents.

Since 1987, the Better Life Option’s program has reached hundreds of thousands of girls in many different countries around the world, including Egypt, India, Nepal and South Africa.

Learn more about CEDPA’s work to advance Girls’ Education.

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