The number of people who are unable to read or write is staggering. What many of us take for granted – reading a billboard sign, signing your name on a birthday card – others dream of being able to do. At this moment, 776 million people worldwide cannot read or write. That’s 16% of the population. It may not seem like a large percentage, but it is. That’s 16% of the population who will continue to live in poverty, unable to contribute to their families’ wellbeing or to their communities.
Today is International Literacy Day and we – the people of the world who have this incredible privilege to be able to read and write – owe it to ourselves and to those less fortunate than us to do all we can to make education available for everyone. If 776 million people cannot read or write, that’s 776 million people who cannot read about the world around them, cannot write and convey their views on world issues, and that’s 776 million people who are essentially denied a voice. One of those voices could be our cure for cancer, another could be the next president. In this globalised world, 776 million is far too high a number and something needs to be done about it.
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