At least 1.2 billion poor people are not able to read or write. This restricts their ability to carry out every day activities such as read signposts, understand medicine labels and machinery instructions, confirm commercial transactions and avoid being cheated. Increasing the pool of literate and numerate people is essential to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

A briefing paper from the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) considers the ways in which literacy and poverty interrelate. It highlights principles of good practice, examines potential entry points for literacy initiatives and identifies challenges facing DFID as it gives greater priority to literacy as part of poverty reduction.

There is clear evidence that once adults take part in literacy schemes the benefits can extend beyond the individuals. For example:

• participants are more likely to send their children to school, encourage them to attend regularly and monitor their progress
• the health and nutritional practices of their families may be improved
• participants take an informed interest in protecting the environment
• there is growth in community capacity, solidarity and a greater awareness of their rights as citizens.

Many adult literacy programmes have failed to produce expected outcomes and have had high drop-out, low enrolment and low completion rates. There has been insufficient analysis of the demand for literacy skills from the learner’s point of view. Programmes intended to suit all situations have particularly failed to engage with the needs, lifestyles and hopes of marginalised women. The acquisition of literacy skills can help women to develop the confidence to participate more actively in public meetings, and play a more leading role in community affairs.

DFID provides examples of projects that offer contextual literacy assistance in response to people’s expressed needs and aspirations:

• A project in Nigeria that enabled young garage workers to understand car manuals.
• In Bangladesh family literacy has been promoted by assisting mothers to read to their children.
• Dual language literacy programmes in several African states are showing the importance of empowering those who may use different languages in different contexts such as reading religious texts, daily life and filling in official forms.
• In India professional lawyers have trained local facilitators to develop legal literacy and enable women to exercise their rights in cases of rape, property and marital disputes.
• Participants in credit schemes in Nepal have developed literacy, numeracy and book-keeping skills and are no longer dependent on a minority of better educated women.

Raising the development profile of literacy and moving towards more holistic and demand-driven programmes requires:

• using the sustainable livelihoods approach and framework to map where literacy practice fits into people’s daily lives
• recognising that there are multiple literacies in an increasingly globalised world
• building on existing strengths – complementing existing practices of literacy and communication
• awareness that for every individual and household information needs, and therefore literary practices, are constantly changing
• greatly improved targeting, particularly of poor women who have missed out on primary schooling
• encouraging agencies to develop indicators to measure progress in reaching international literacy targets.

Literacy is more than an education matter – limited by funding agency agendas to a specific ministry. Instead it is a cross-sectoral issue that needs the integration of new literacy approaches into other development policies and programmes. All Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers should therefore include programmes to develop basic adult literacy, with a particular focus on enabling women to play a more dynamic role in relation to the improvement of their livelihoods and the lives of their families and the communities in which they live.

Source(s):
‘Improving livelihoods for the poor: the role of literacy’, DFID Background Briefing March 2002 Full document.

Funded by: Department for International Development, UK

id21 Research Highlight: 26 November 2004

Further Information:
Carew Treffgarne

Contact the contributor: c-treffgarne@dfid.gov.uk

Or Information Department
Department for International Development
1 Palace Street
London SW1E 5HE
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1355 84 3132
Contact the contributor: enquiry@dfid.gov.uk

Department for International Development (DFID), UK

Other related links:
'Women’s literacy programmes improve social and economic development in Nepal'

'Are literacy classes working for women in Mali?'

'Better livelihoods through literacy or literacy through livelihoods skills?'

'Universal literacy: essential for development?'

'The impact of family literacy on the earnings of illiterates: Evidence from Senegal' from Cornell University

'Universal literacy: essential for development?' from ELDIS

'Eldis Education Resource Guide'