In 2000, approximately 877 million adults worldwide were illiterate and 113 million children did not attend school. More than two-thirds of those individuals lived in East and South Asia, and two-thirds were females. Functional illiteracy remains high in developed and developing nations alike. The reasons include weak training in how to teach reading and insufficient emphasis on reading in school curricula. Action Aid's innovative grassroots project REFLECT has achieved success by using reading materials developed by local communities. The community learning centers that are run by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All in 18 countries, provided outside the formal education system and managed by local people constitute another successful initiative. Despite their success, nonformal education programs, including adult literacy programs, rarely receive more than 5% of national education budgets. Various theories have been proposed to explain governments' reluctance to fund such programs. Research confirms the effectiveness of literacy campaigns, particularly sustained campaigns that took place in "mobilizing" societies and were conducted by socialist movements. Governments must realize that creating a literate society is a process requiring generations and that the keys to literacy campaigns' success include sustained support, adequate provision of materials, and relevance to local community needs. (MN)