12 Activities You Can Do For International Literacy Day, Sept. 8

Since 1967, UNESCO has promoted the importance of education and literacy by encouraging the world to celebrate International Literacy Day. buildOn celebrates this day because literacy is one of the pillars of our mission, and it’s one of the main reasons our work is so important and fulfilling. But we still have a long way to go until the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goal of “Education for All” is met.

UNESCO states that there are still 754 million adults in the world that are illiterate. That’s 14% of the adult population that can’t read or write. Two-thirds of this number is women.

Research shows that education, especially the education of women and girls, is one of the most effective ways to fight global poverty and extremism. According to the Global Campaign for Education, no country has ever achieved continuous and rapid economic growth without first having at least 40% of its adults able to read and write.

What can you do to promote literacy in your own community and around the world? We’ve put together a list of ideas to get you started:

1. ✍️ Tutor an adult, refugee, or recently arrived immigrant in your community that is learning how to read. Ask your local library to connect you to a program that works with illiterate adults.
2. 🌍 Hold a book drive and donate books to a charity, such as Books for Africa, that is working to end the book shortage in Africa.
3. 📖 Start a book club with an international theme.
4. 📚 Host a read-a-thon fundraiser to support buildOn’s work to build schools in the countries that need them most.
5. 🏫 Fund a classroom library by contributing to teachers’ wishlists or donating to organizations that supply books to underserved classrooms.
6. 🧒 Donate children’s books to a library in your community. Your old children’s books will promote literacy and instill a love of reading in future generations!
7. ✉️ Use your literacy skills to write letters to Amnesty International and help fight injustice around the world.
8. 🎁 Give a book as a gift. Include a note about why you believe literacy is so important.
9. 🏛️ Get involved with your local library.
10. 📰 Contact your local newspaper with a story about how literacy has impacted your life and some facts about literacy to raise awareness.
11. ✈️ Go on a buildOn Trek to build a school in one of our partner countries. After fundraising, you’ll work side-by-side with the local community members to build a school that will promote literacy for years to come.
12. ❤️ Donate to buildOn to support our literacy work. You’ll help provide adult literacy classes and build schools in economically developing countries, giving both children and adults the chance to learn, grow, and transform their communities through education.