The Ministry of Social Affairs launches the “literacy is freedom” programme for illiterate women and adults || Newspapers (Arabic)

The Ministry of Social Affairs launched yesterday its new programme entitled “literacy is freedom” in collaboration with the UNESCO regional bureau for Arab states and the Italian Embassy.  The launch occurred during a public event and began with an address by the director of the national literacy programme Ms. Nehmat Geagea who outlined the programme’s planned activities.  The director of the UNESCO Regional Bureau for the Arab States, Dr. Hamad Seif ben Hammami, noted that current literacy programme remain conventional and only teach the alphabet using methods that often lead to a fallback to illiteracy estimated at 30%.  This he noted is a huge waste of resources.
Legal counselor Antoun Zakhia who represented the Minister of Social Affairs, Mr. Wael Abou Faour, indicated that combating women’s illiteracy requires specific efforts notably focusing on rural areas thus the importance of supporting this new initiative especially since illiteracy is one of the main causes of gender inequality as well as a cause of urban-rural disparities.  Zakhia emphasized the importance of partnership between state institutions, international and local organisations and so as to ensure the full and active participation of local communities in implementing literacy programmes and in drawing national plans and mechanisms for implementation.
Source: Al-Nahar 18 December 2012