International Literacy Day Celebrations in South Sudan

South Sudan will join the rest of the world to mark the 50th anniversary of International Literacy Day (ILD) on 8 September 2016. “I See the Value of Literacy in Sports as Much as I See the Role of Literacy in Shaping Attitudes in Favour of Peace”, and “With Literacy, We can Be Better Ambassadors of Sports and Peace in South Sudan” are the local themes for the day.

The national celebrations will take place in Aweil Town (Northern Bahr el Ghazal). A “sports for literacy and peace” soccer tournament has been specially organised for the ILD celebrations, thanks to the local football association in Aweil.

All state education ministers have been directed by the national ministry of Education to ensure that they organize celebrations in their respective states. This is to make the celebrations nation-wide.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of International Literacy Day and UNESCO and the Ministry of General Education and Instruction are celebrating it under the banner “Reading the Past, Writing the Future”. International Literacy Day 2016 celebrates and honors the past five decades of national and international engagement, efforts and progress made to increase literacy rates around the world.

Why ILD 2016 is special
This is the first year of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this context the vision of literacy is aligned with lifelong learning opportunities with special focus on youth and adults. Literacy is a part of Sustainable Development Goal 4, which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. The target is that by 2030 all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy (SDG Target 4.6)