International Literacy Day
Literacy for Diversity: Voices of Resilience
September 5, 2002, at the United Nations
Sponsored by the International Literacy Network and UNESCO, with the LAC, supported by Verizon.
Official statements
Key questions
Leaders’ roundtable
9/11 reflections by NYC adult learners
Issue roundtables
Resources for International Literacy Day
Official statements
Press release from the International Literacy Network (PDF, 21K)
Statement by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (PDF, 115K)
Statement by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura (PDF, 18K)
Key questions guiding the day’s discussions
- What is the role of literacy in developing resilient communities?
- As part of the literacy agenda, what should we do to enable voices that are excluded and marginalized?
Leaders’ roundtable
- Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury, Undersecretary General for Least Developed Countries
- Jargalsaikhany Enkhsaikhan, Mongolian Ambassador to the UN
- Dr. Birger Fredriksen, Africa Region Human Development, World Bank
- Dr. Richard La Pointe, U.S. Department of Education
- Dr. Lesley Morrow, International Reading Association
- Calvin Miles, President, Voice for Adult Literacy United for Education (VALUE)
9/11 reflections by NYC adult learners
Students whose work was collected by the LAC for publication in the book Student Writings, September 11, 2001 read their original pieces during lunch for the collected dignitaries.
Issue roundtables
Key questions from specific perspectives:
- conflict
- gender
- language and ethnicity
- families and literacy
- workforce development
Resources for International Literacy Day
Fact Sheet on International Literacy Day