FAWE will be participating in the 2014 World Literacy Summit in Oxford UK from 14th to 16th April, 2014. It will use the platform to build awareness of the continental literacy crisis, especially among women and build partnerships to improve literacy standards in Africa. FAWE will also present a paper on “Equitable Pathways to Literate Worlds.” Sharing her experiences on how FAWE’s Mobile Library is contributing to improving literacy rates, especially among the targeted girls in Uganda, Zambia and Zanzibar.

Synopsis of FAWE’s presentation

Universally, learning to read and write is recognised as a fundamental human right, yet according to UNESCO/BREDA, (2011) two-thirds of the 38% of African adults who are illiterate are women. Continued subordination and discrimination of females in Africa excludes many girls and women from acquiring basic skills needed to cope with challenges they face in their lives. FAWE has, since 1992, raised awareness on the correlation between higher female illiteracy rates and girls’ limited access to educational opportunities and resources. Apart from advocating for reform of education systems towards realising gender equality and improving the quality of education, FAWE has demonstrated interventions with potential to accelerate girls’ participation rates. FAWE’s Mobile Library intervention gives girls, who are frequently absent from school, chances to access educational materials and learn outside the classroom, besides enhancing the quality of teaching and ultimately improving their learning achievement and completion rates in Zambian secondary schools.

See link below for more details:

http://worldliteracysummit.org/about/world-literacy-summit-2014/