Message from Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the International Literacy Day, 50th Anniversary, 8 September 2016

Literacy is essential to success across the board. A foundation for human rights and dignity, literacy is vital for poverty eradication, for gender equality, for more inclusive and sustainable societies. This is why we launch today the Global Alliance for Literacy, to mobilize investment and promote innovative initiatives, with a focus on gender and new information and communication technologies. We must seize every opportunity-- we must work across all sectoral boundaries.