Azerbaijan's First Lady to attend UNESCO's conference in Qatar

UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura, general conference president and Oman's permanent delegate Dr Musa bin Jaafar bin Hassan, Azerbaijan's First Lady and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Mehriban Aliyeva are among the speakers at the opening ceremony of the conference being held at the Four Seasons Hotel.

A highlight would be a video message from the US First Lady Laura Bush, who is also the Honorary Ambassador for the United Nations Literacy Decade.

QF's vice-president for Education Dr Abdulla al-Thani, the master of ceremony, is to give the introductory remarks to the exhibition, 'Enriching literate environments,' being held on the sidelines of the three-day event.

The conference, the first of UNESCO's regional conferences in support of global literacy and the third in QF's Innovations in Education (IIE) series, seeks ways to reduce illiteracy in the Arab states.

It is estimated that about 58mn adults are illiterate in the Arab world, including 66% women, and there is marked disparity of literacy rates between countries.

Organised by UNESCO in the framework of its Literacy Initiative for Empowerment, and United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD), the conference is part of a major drive to promote literacy at international and regional levels.

By holding this conference, QF and UNESCO hope to place literacy on the agenda of national governments and international partners, and to assist countries, in addressing their literacy challenges, thereby contributing to sustainable human development and poverty reduction.

It will present, disseminate and discuss innovative and effective literacy practices from the region through a series of panel and roundtable discussions.

Media literacy, mother-child inter-generational learning, and literacy in crisis and post-conflict situations are the issues to be addressed by experts from across the region.

The IIE series, which opened in 2004 with a forum dedicated to 'The Art and Science Partnership', explored in 2006 'Technology, Empowerment and Education.'

The theme of the 'Enriching literate environments,' exhibition focuses on the overall context in which people read and write, and refers to material and infrastructure such as books, newspapers, paper, administrative forms, information communication technology, TV and cell phones.

It also includes the places and institutions in which people acquire literacy and produce written material. "Literacy for all requires the creation of literate societies, where literacy is central in communication and learning," an official said.

The exhibition will tackle this issue, raising participants' awareness of this key strategy adopted by the United Nations Literacy Decade to achieve literacy for all.

Children's books will be presented as an effective tool to consolidate the reading skills of children and youth, while giving parents the means to support their literacy development.

Part of the exhibition is to focus on how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be used in literacy and non-formal education by increasing access, localising content and creating an environment conducive to literacy.

Videos and films will document experiences of reading promotion worldwide. A majority of books presented at the exhibition were gathered on account of the collaboration of the French National Centre for Children's Books, 'La Joie Par les Livres.' Gulf Times