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© UNESCO/D. Evans
Khayelitsha near Cape Town, South Africa. The largest shack-town in the country. Roughly 400000 people live in shacks. Classroom - Intlanganiso High School.

South Africa joined UNESCO on November 4, 1946. Under the apartheid regime, the country withdrew from the Organization in 1956. The end of the regime corresponds with the year the country was re-admitted to the Organization, on December 12, 1994.

The setting-up of a project integrated into the community at KwaZulu-Natal University, coordinated by the South African National Commission for UNESCO with the support of the Windhoek Office, has led to successful work in the prevention of HIV-AIDS, and the development of literacy and human rights.

In Focus

UNESCO International Literacy Prizes: call for nominations open until 30 June 2009

Winners of the 2008 UNESCO International Literacy Prizes from Brazil, Ethiopia, South Africa and Zambia offer inspiring examples of how literacy impacts powerfully on health.

On the theme Literacy and Empowerment, the 2009 UNESCO International Literacy Prizes will reward well-established and innovative practices documenting how literacy skills (basic skills in reading, writing and numeracy) contribute to empowerment, enabling people to better direct and control their lives.

UNESCO invites Governments and International Non-Governmental Organizations maintaining formal consultative relations with the Organization to solicit and submit applications by programmes that promote literacy as a means for nurturing inclusive societies.

More about the 2008 Prize winners

UNESCO International Literacy Prizes

2007 Prize winners

International Literacy Day 2008: Literacy is the best remedy

United Nations Literacy Decade (2003 - 2012)