In outlining the framework offered at the UNESCO Regional Conference in support of Global Literacy (New Delhi, November 2007), it was pointed out that concepts of poverty, sustainable development and particularly of literacy and innovation have themselves been in continuous re-construction. An analysis of the context and condition for literacy…

This publication presents an overview of the Asia-Pacific Regional Planning Meeting on the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE). Countries in Asia and the Pacific that participate in the LIFE initiative are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan and Papua New Guinea. The purpose of the meeting was to assist…

This issue contains those materials from a seminar on "Campaigning for Literacy" held at Udaipur, Rajasthan, India, on January 4-11, 1982, that concentrate on Asian experience. The "Udaipur Literacy Declaration," presented first, is followed by extracts from the opening addresses and a review of the report, "Campaigning…

This report on the International Seminar on Campaigning for Literacy at Udaipur, India is divided into three main parts. Part 1 describes the context and background of the seminar, its specific objectives, and the organization and procedures of the seminar. Part 2 provides an overview of the seminar proceedings. The inaugural statements are…

This issue, the second in a three-part series leading up to International Literacy Year in 1990, examines innovative mass efforts that reach out to the large numbers of people who have been bypassed by traditional approaches. The eight articles are the following: (1) "Towards an Agenda for Literacy" (H. S. Bhola) reports on developing an…

The articles in this issue are mainly concerned with how to reach the poorest and most disadvantaged sections of the population and how best to help once contact has been made. "Nijera Kori in Retrospect: In Search of an Organization of the Rural Poor" (Mohiuddin Ahmad) provides extracts from an evaluation of this grassroots,…

This final report contains the proceedings and other materials from a workshop to provide training experience in literacy follow-up materials development to participants from UNESCO member states in the Asia and Pacific region. Focus is on practical agricultural training for adults. The proceedings discuss the objectives of the workshop and…

This issue of the Courier contains articles loosely connected to each other by the underlying theme of developing people's capacity to improve the quality of their lives. The following articles are included: "Development of Human Resources--A Basic Needs Approach," by Mohiuddin Ahmad; "Rural Poverty," by the United Nations Food…

The case studies described in this book provide examples of initiatives illustrating the role of adult education in development and its contribution to the process of change in developing countries. The book is organized in five sections. Case studies in Part 1, "Health Education," illustrate the links between primary health care and…

The participatory rural appraisal (PRA) technique was used with 1,550 women and 420 men in more than 100 villages in Uganda, El Salvador, and Bangladesh over a 2-year period to develop and pilot test an approach to literacy education called REFLECT (Regenerated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques). The REFLECT approach, which…

These 15 papers share a common theme: seeking to promote literacy as a powerful tool for challenging existing inequalities and dependencies. "Powerful Literacies" (Jim Crowther et al.) is an introduction. Section 1 establishes the theoretical and policy frameworks that underpin the book and shows how literacy is situated in different…

This book examines literacy for sustainable development in the age of information. It begins by discussing the relationship between literacy and hegemony, social policy, national language policy, colonial relations, and postcolonial realities. Also discussed in the introduction are views and definitions of literacy and considerations in mapping a…