One in five adults is still not literate and two-thirds of them are women. About 75 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out, according to UNESCO. Over 700 million adults lack the minimum literacy skills, and this is an improvement from the 871 million who could not read or write in 1994.

“An illiterate person is simply more vulnerable to ill-health, and less likely to seek medical help for themselves, their family or their community,” notes the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura. “Literacy is a powerful yet too often overlooked remedy to health threats, with the potential to promote better nutrition, disease prevention and treatment.” 

Take a moment to reflect on the power that you hold just by being able to read this blog.  For more information on how you can help to promote literacy today, contact  'literacy@unesco.org'.