IIMSAM Middle East Office Observed International Day of Literacy

Doha, Qatar, September 09, 2010 --(PR.com)-- On the occasion of International Day of Literacy Dr. Naseer Homoud Goodwill Ambassador and Director of Middle East office for the Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina against Malnutrition (IIMSAM), the Permanent Observer to the United Nations Economic and Social Council while addressing the media said “World Literacy Day 2010 presents a moment to both celebrate achievements to date and to press on for those which have yet to be reached.”. He further said “a basic human right, literacy is at the heart of education for all and essential for eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, and achieving gender equality. Despite the major milestones accomplished towards literacy, the goal of literacy for all, including children, youth and adults, remains an unaccomplished goal which is indeed not a healthy sign for the developed civilization.”

Observing the Day he said “education and literacy are the foundation and essence of all human development. Literacy confers a wide set of benefits on individuals, on families and communities. Social benefits arise on account of better knowledge and awareness that literacy gives. This helps in improving the implementation of social welfare programmes, fighting social evils and in building tolerant societies. Another set of benefits from literacy is economic, as it positively impacts on enhancing skills and earning capacities. A third set of benefits is political. A literate environment is fundamental for empowering citizens, who understand their rights and duties and take informed decisions. But, the most important are human benefits as literacy enhances an individual's self esteem and confidence levels.” 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 doing things differently at local, national and international levels, he asserted.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Homoud said that education has become an important part of our day to day life and he urged everyone to try to convince others about the importance of literacy and for cooperatively combating illiteracy. He urged people to join the crusade against this prevailing social evil. “We blame the government for the dwindling literacy rate, but we hardly care for teaching our illiterate neighbors. On this special day, let us vow to make this world literate. It is possible if we begin on our own by sparing some time for uneducated people living around us,” Dr. Homoud appealed.

International Literacy Day is also a time to focus on the challenges faced in ensuring that literacy standards and education levels in the world continues to improve. “I encourage everyone to take the time today to reflect on the link between economic well-being and literacy,” Dr. Homoud said. “By working together to promote literacy we can make the whole world a ‘have’ territory with no boundaries with healthy, educated people making responsible personal choices for themselves and their families,” he contended.

The alarming situation wherein world literacy rates are yet to reach to its form and substance is something which is going in direct contradiction with the pace of development and modernization, which cannot be termed as sustained amid prevailing inequality among the nations of the world. Dr Homoud calls this state of affairs an “insult to individual human dignity” which imperils the future well-being of humankind. According to UNESCO across the world, one in five adults, or over 774 million adults, are illiterate and two-thirds of them are women. 75 million children are out of school, missing out on the opportunity to learn to read and write, many of them as a result of disasters caused by conflict or natural hazards. The definition of literacy and a literate person is vast according to UNESCO. A literate person is one, who can, with understanding, both read and write a short statement relevant to routine life, and capable of analytical understanding of men’s condition in the world. Literacy is a means of personal liberation and development and delivering individuals educational efforts.

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