The European Commission and UNESCO have called for joint action to reduce the number of young people and adults lacking basic reading and writing skills, both in Europe and world-wide, at a meeting in the European Parliament on 22 January.

Androulla Vassiliou, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, outlined what the EU can do at the political level to boost literacy. She underlined that, in addition to investing in education, everyone can contribute to improving literacy levels, from parents to employers and health services.

The chair of the EU High Level Group on Literacy and special envoy for UNESCO on Literacy for Development, presented the main findings of the group’s report, which includes recommendations to policy-makers covering all age groups from young children to adults.

Find out more:

• the literacy website
• the press release