Paris, August 8 (No.2000-69) - UNESCO’s international literacy prizes this year rewards projects and programmes in Bolivia, Iraq, the Philippines, Senegal and Zimbabwe, as decided by an international jury that met in Paris from July 24 to 28 to name the laureates of the International Reading Association Literacy Award, the Noma Literacy Prize, the King Sejong Literacy Prizes and the Malcolm Adiseshiah International Literacy Prize.

The five prizes reward particularly effective contributions to the fight against illiteracy, one of UNESCO’s major concerns. Laureates were chosen from among 24 nominations submitted by governments. They will receive their prizes on September 8, International Literacy Day, in their home countries.

The $15,000 International Reading Association Literacy Award (created in 1979) will be presented to the Adult Literacy Organisation of Zimbabwe (ALOZ). The organisation is rewarded, notably, for linking literacy and daily life, namely to productive and income-generating activities; for ensuring that its literacy interventions are conducted in local languages; and for seeking to involve local public sector officials and education experts in training target population groups in project management. An Honourable Mention rewards the Programme of Adult Literacy and Basic Education in Nicaragua (PAEBANIC), for, among other things, integrating basic education and adult literacy into the country’s poverty reduction strategy.

The $15,000 Noma Literacy Prize (created in 1980) this year goes to the Bureau of Non-Formal Education: Accreditation and Equivalency (NFE A&E) System, of the Philippines. The Jury stressed the pioneering nature of its non-formal alternative learning system and the priority it gives to out-of-school youth and to hard-to-reach communities currently under-served by public services. An Honourable Mention will be awarded to Iran’s Education Project for Out-of-School Girl Workers in Rural Areas, for encouraging out-of-school girls to sign up for literacy classes in a country where there has traditionally been cultural resistance to such education, and for developing literacy material directly linked to their living conditions.

The two King Sejong Literacy Prizes (created in 1989, for a value of $15,000 each) will recompense Iraq’s Juvenile Education programme - for continuing its work in favour of education for all despite past and current difficulties resulting from the country’s conflict situation - and the National Literacy and Basic Education Directorateof Senegal for recognising the importance of all six national languages to the learning achievement of ethnic minority groups throughout the country and embracing the concept of “faire faire”, in which the government establishes contracts between public and private sector education providers for the supply of educational services at the local level.

The King Sejong Honourable Mentions are awarded to Brazil’s Programa Alfabetizaçao Solidária (Literacy through Solidarity Programme), notably for its methodology and impressive achievements, and to Literacy Aotearoa Inc., of New Zealand for its programmes which are respectful of Maori knowledge and cultural values.

The $15,000 Malcolm Adiseshiah Literacy Prize, awarded for the first time in 1998, will be given to the Bolivian Proyecto de alfabetisación Quechua-Espagnol en salud reproductiva (Quechua-Castellano Bilingual Literacy Project on Reproductive Health) for its bilingual programme recognising the value and importance of the Quechua culture and for its work with various government ministries, NGOs and United Nations Agencies. An Honourable Mention will be given to the Education Bureau of Shizong County (Yunnan Province, People’s Republic of China) for recognising the synergies between universal primary schooling and adult literacy and for linking literacy, culture, science and technology to the productive dynamism of the local economy.

Funding for the International Reading Association Literacy Award, the Noma Prize, the two King Sejong Prizes and the Malcolm Adiseshiah Prize comes from the generous donations of the International Reading Association, the late Soichi Noma and Japanese Publisher Kodansha, the governments of Korea and India.