By IANS
New Delhi : In support of global literacy, India is hosting a two-day global literacy meet here starting Thursday.
The conference is a follow-up to the White House conference on global literacy held in September 2006. Congress president Sonia Gandhi will inaugurate it and writer Mahasweta Devi will deliver the key-note address.
The conference has been organised by India’s Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) and Unesco. The meet will have education and finance ministers of 14 countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
“The Delhi conference is important for the Indian subcontinent because three highly populated nations, namely, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, continue to face major literacy challenges, including the sheer number of illiterates,” a Unesco official said.
“In addition to a serious gender gap, there is high urban-rural disparity. As a key instrument for lifelong learning, indispensable for effective participation in social and economic life and essential for peace, literacy is a crucial issue in the region,” official added.
Titled ‘Addressing Literacy Challenge in South, South-West and Central Asia: Building Partnerships and Promoting Innovative Approaches’, the conference will be the fourth in the series of six regional conferences – covering the Arab states, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean – being organised to promote literacy.
The First Ladies of 10 countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – have also been invited to the conference.
However, only the First Lady of Sri Lanka has confirmed her participation in the meet.