September 8 is International Literacy Day
International Literacy Day is celebrated on September 8.
This year the event marks the 50th anniversary of the World Congress of Ministers of Education on the Eradication of Illiteracy (Islamic Republic of Iran, 1965), which made the Tehran recommendation on the proclamation of the International Literacy Day and advanced the notion of functional literacy. As in previous years, the 2016 UNESCO International Literacy Prizes Awards Ceremony will also take place.
UNESCO is celebrating the day under the banner “Reading the Past, Writing the Future”.
The main aim of the event is to encourage efforts towards increasing literacy rates around the world.
Each year International Literacy Day is dedicated to one subject, featuring slogans like “Importance of Literacy for Women”, “Literacy and Health”, “Literacy and Sustainable Development”, “Reading the Past, Writing the Future” etc. This year the event is dedicated to innovations.
The main global celebration of the day will take place at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris in the form of a two-day conference on 8 - 9 September, the highlight of which will be the awarding of the Literacy Prizes.