In January 2002, and in the context of the Education for All and

Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations General

Assembly proclaimed the years 2003–2012 to be the United Nations

Literacy Decade (UN, 2002a), which was officially launched on 13

February 2003. The founding resolution (Resolution 56/116) reaffirmed

the Dakar Framework for Action (UNESCO, 2000a), in which

the commitment was made to achieve a 50% improvement in adult

literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic

and continuing education for all adults. The International Action Plan

for implementing Resolution 56/116 states that ‘literacy for all is at

the heart of basic education for all and that creating literate environments

and societies is essential for achieving goals of eradicating poverty,

reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving

gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace, and

democracy’ (UN, 2002b, p. 3). The Action Plan calls for a renewed

vision of literacy that goes beyond the limited view of literacy that has

dominated in the past.

Wagner_Lit-ICT_UNESCO_05.pdf