During the early Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union used adult literacy education to wield influence in "Third World" countries. Frank C. Laubach, the "Apostle of Literacy," wrote prolifically about adult literacy and conducted and advised literacy campaigns in more than 100 countries, yet his work is understudied…

At its founding in 1946, UNESCO put literacy at the top of its education and human rights agenda. More than six decades later, UNESCO maintains the mission statement: "UNESCO is at the forefront of global literacy efforts and is dedicated to keeping literacy high on national, regional and international agendas." This chapter briefly describes how…

This document presents an overview of support for economic development provided by the Swedish government to a variety of nonformal adult education programs in developing nations (mostly in Africa). The four sections of the report provide details of the following: (1) scope, objectives, and methods of Swedish development cooperation; (2) the…