IFLA-IPA-IAF-RWF Joint Statement on Literacy and Reading for International Literacy Day.

Abstract

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), the International Publishers Association (IPA), the International Authors Forum (IAF) and the Reading & Writing Foundation (RWF) have a core mission in promoting reading and literacy. We call on UN member states to support the SDGs by implementing coherent and appropriately resourced national comprehensive literacy strategies, targeted at addressing persistent failures in literacy attainment and make use of all existing resources, including public libraries. Why reading matters more than ever in tackling 21st century challenges “Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. Especially for girls and women, it is an agent of family health and nutrition. For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.... Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.” – Kofi Annan. The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), the International Publishers Association (IPA), the International Authors Forum (IAF) and the Reading & Writing Foundation (RWF) support, defend and promote intellectual freedom. As defined in Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 136 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, we affirm that everyone has a fundamental right to access information, expressions of knowledge, creative thought and intellectual activity, and to express their views publicly – through any media and regardless of frontiers and disabilities.