International literacy day

Today is International Literacy Day. The day has been commemorated since 1966 to raise awareness of the benefits of literacy at the individual, national and global levels. This awareness is necessary as the UN estimates that 617 million youth worldwide do not have basic literacy skills with a quarter of the world's illiterate population living in sub-Saharan Africa. 

The theme for this year is Literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. 

Wealth inequality in literacy rates

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Social Inclusion (UNDESA) recently launched the World Social Report 2020. The report finds that 70% of the world's population are living in countries where the wealth inequality is increasing.

Today is International Day of Education

Education is considered a human right and every child has the right to have basic education.

Investing in education is critical for countries because education investments yield enormous individual and societal rewards. In the areas of population and health, education, particularly of women leads to later age at marriage and first birth, higher use of family planning, better maternal and child health, greater survival of children and higher life expectancy.   

Also of importance is the need for countries need to invest in quality education because that is what leads to learning and skills development.