Improving Literacy Worldwide

By Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: September 22, 2003

This is Robert Covent with the VOA Special English Development Report.
Literacy, by its most basic meaning, is the ability to read and write. The United Nations says world literacy rates improved from seventy percent in nineteen-eighty to eighty-percent in two-thousand. Yet recent estimates show that more than eight-hundred-sixty-million adults are 1)illiterate². Two-thirds of them are women.
In addition, the U-N says more than one-hundred-million children, mostly girls, cannot attend school. For more than fifty years, the right to education has been recognized within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In two-thousand a World Education Forum³ took place in Dakar, Senegal. Leaders of countries approved several goals to end illiteracy⁴. These goals included free schooling⁵ for all children at the primary level. They also included an equal right to education for both girls and boys.
The U-N children's agency, UNICEF, says the progress made against illiteracy could be lost unless more action is taken immediately. In Africa, for example, UNICEF say millions of new teachers are needed to educate a growing number of students. Schools have lost many teachers because of the H-I-V virus and AIDS.
UNICEF also says hunger and natural disasters have created huge 2)refugee populations. And officials in some countries have to deal with repairing schools damaged or destroyed by conflicts.
The goal of the U-N is to reduce illiteracy rates by half by the year two-thousand-fifteen. As part of this effort, it has declared two-thousand-three to two-thousand-twelve United Nations Literacy Decade. The message of the campaign is "literacy as freedom."
The first World Literacy Day was observed on September eighth. Secretary General Kofi Annan reminded countries that higher literacy rates can help reduce poverty. He said greater literacy can also increase democratic development and strengthen economic growth.
Mister Annan also spoke⁶ of the need for literacy as a way to improve the lives of women. He said this is why the first two years of the U-N campaign will pay special attention to women's literacy issues.
You can learn more about the United Nations Literacy Decade on the 3)UNESCO Web site. The address is w-w-w dot u-n-e-s-c-o dot o-r-g. (www.unesco.org)
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. This is Robert Covent.
注释：
1) illiterate [i5litErit]n.文盲
2) refugee [7refju(:)5dVi:] n.难民
3) UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization)  联合国教科文组织

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

3 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

4 illiteracy   

n.文盲

参考例句：

• It is encouraging to read that illiteracy is declining.从读报中了解文盲情况正在好转，这是令人鼓舞的。
• We must do away with illiteracy.我们必须扫除文盲。

5 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。