September 8: International Literacy Day
Its aim is to make the people aware and to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies in every Country. A day to remind world leaders, influencers, writers and the general public of the current status of adult literacy and learning.
Statistics:
Some 775 million adults lack minimum literacy skills; one in five adults are still not literate and two-thirds of them are women. 60.7 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out.
According to UNESCO’s Report on Education (2006), the lowest adult literacy rate are:
Regions: – South Asia (58.6%), followed by sub-Saharan Africa (59.7%)
Countries: – Burkina Faso (12.8%), Niger (14.4%) and Mali (19%)
Despite its economic growth, India still remains the country with the largest number of illiterate adults in the world. The literacy rate for India is 74.5% for men, and 65% for women. There is a huge difference among the States in literacy rates, as the Literacy Map of India shows. The rates range from Kerala with 94%, Lakshadeep and Mizoram with 92% each, Tripura with 88 and Goa with 87%. At the bottom of the ladder as Bihar (64%), Telengana (66%), Arunachal Pradesh and Rajasthan (67%) and Andhra Pradesh (68%).
We can all do something to improve this situation. A school can conduct literacy classes for the neighbourhood; panchayats and districts can hold campaigns to promote literacy. More initiatives will come where there is good will.
The report shows a and Aclear connection between illiteracy and countries in severe poverty, and between illiteracy and prejudice against women. Literacy is the best remedy to eradicate poverty and inequalities across the world
This Day highlights the changes and improvements being made worldwide in literacy development. UNESCO has been central in improving global literacy since 1946, in partnership with governments, charities, local communities and experts in the field worldwide.
UNESCO also announces its International Literacy awards, a prestigious prize recognising excellence and innovation. Submissions will be on “Literacy and Skills Development”, the theme for 2018.
Some of the Themes of the past years are: Education for All, Literacy and Health, Literacy and Empowerment, Literacy and Peace, Literacy in the Digital World.
We celebrate the Day to promote the public consciousness about the extraordinary value of the written word and to encourage the literate rate of society. Literacy has the ability to raise the family status and hence the country status.
It is celebrated to encourage people towards getting continuous education and to take up their responsibilities towards the family, society, the country and the world at large.
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September 26:
International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
Achieving global nuclear disarmament is one of the oldest goals of the United Nations; the subject of the General Assembly’s first resolution in 1946—after the disaster of Hiroshima and Nagasaki!
Yet today, some 15,000 nuclear weapons remain. Countries possessing such weapons have well-funded, long-term plans to modernize their nuclear arsenals. As of 2017, while there have been major reductions in deployed nuclear weapons since the height of the Cold War, not one nuclear warhead has been physically destroyed and no nuclear disarmament negotiations are underway. (For national estimates, see the Chart.)
This International Day provides an occasion for the world community to reaffirm its commitment to global nuclear disarmament as a high priority. It also provides an opportunity to educate the public—and their leaders—about the real benefits of eliminating such weapons, and the social and economic costs of perpetuating them.
Commemorating this Day at the United Nations is especially important, given its universal membership and its long experience in grappling with nuclear disarmament issues. It is the right place to address one of humanity’s greatest challenges, achieving the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, adopted on 7 July 2017, marks an important step and contribution towards this common goal.
Secretary-General António Guterres:
The dangers posed by nuclear weapons have been forcefully driven home, making this event timelier than ever. Think, for example, of the tension between N. Korea and USA.
We know that the horrific humanitarian and environmental consequences of the use of nuclear weapons would transcend national borders.
The only world that is safe from the use of nuclear weapons is a world that is completely free of the nuclear weapons themselves.
It is true that we live in challenging circumstances, but this can be no excuse for walking away from our shared responsibility to seek a more peaceful international society.
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Sr Esme Da Cunha FDCC
