EUROPE/SPAIN - International Literacy Day: nearly 800 million illiterates in the world, including more than 70 million children

Madrid (Agenzia Fides) - On September 8, International Literacy Day is celebrated, we want to remind society in general, governments and institutions dealing with education that there are still nearly 800 million illiterate people in the world, of which more than 70 million are children, as reported in the UNESCO Report 2010. To achieve universal literacy requires more effort and political will, so as not only to ensure an educational process for everyone, but a tool to combat poverty and ensure inclusion and social mobility, the eradication of child labor and exploitation of children. Among the various events planned to celebrate this day, the organization of the Spanish Catholic Church Manos Unidas, on this occasion, presents educational materials for teachers for 2011-2012. In 2011 it already supported 128projects throughout the educational world. The technical group that deals with the Area of Education have been preparing their materials for 30 years which not only are distributed via the Internet, but also sent to the 71 delegations that maintain direct contact with the teaching centers and deal with its distribution. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 07/09/2011)