UK National Commission for UNESCO :: Literacies matter! Scottish and Global Perspectives

Literacies matter! Scottish and Global Perspectives

10 September 2010

Venue: Glasgow University

This event was hosted by the UK National Commission for UNESCO (UKNC) Scotland Committee in partnership with the Centre for Research and Development in Adult and Lifelong Learning (CRADALL) at Glasgow University, Stirling University, the Communities Teams in Learning Teaching Scotland and the Scottish Government Directorate for Lifelong Learning.

Download all the presentations and speeches from the day from the sidebar. A brief report is also available.

Literacy is at the heart of basic Education for All and is essential for eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, achieving gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy. UNESCO leads the United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-13) which aims to improve literacy levels and empower people worldwide.

International Literacy Day is the 8th Sept 2010. Read more about it on the dedicated UNESCO webpages.

The event aimed to:

mark International Literacy Day and raise awareness of the United Nations Literacy Decade 2003-13 (led by UNESCO) and issues related to literacy worldwide
present the 2009 Scottish Survey of Adult Literacies
relate worldwide issues in literacy to local issuesfocus on the empowering role of literacy and its importance for participation, health and wellbeing, citizenship and social development, and
foster debate in the lead to the new Adult Literacies Strategy of the Scottish Government, to be launched in 2011.

Michael Cross, Deputy Director of the Further and Adult Education Division at the Scottish Government addressed the seminar and the keynote speaker was Mr Adama Ouane, Director of UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning.