Literacy is a human right
According to the latest estimates, 774 million people across the world are illiterate. That is one in five adults globally.
A great deal of research points to the importance of literacy to social development. Literate communities tend to be more equitable, better employed, wealthier and healthier. In fact, so important is literacy to our welfare that the United Nations declared literacy to be a basic human right, along with the right to adequate food, health care, and housing.
An because of the strong link between literacy and human development, The United Nations has declared 2003-2012 the Literacy Decade.
