Translate a Story initiative

As part of its effort to support learning continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic, UNESCO launched the Translate a Story initiative. The initiative is a book translation campaign to facilitate home-based early age reading. This collaboration between the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), UNESCO, ADEA, UNHCR, The Global Book Alliance and other partners aims to provide high-quality reading material to children in the language they speak at home.

UNESCO and partners are coordinating the translation of books in the most vulnerable countries that are undergoing COVID-19 school closures. The translated books are available on the Global Digital Library where they can be accessed for reading on digital devices or for printing. The Library was launched to increase the availability of high quality early grade reading resources in underserved languages.

Evidence shows that learning in one’s native language at a young age has a positive impact on future academic achievement. When schools are closed, there is a heightened need for openly available early grade reading resources in languages children mostly use at home. By liaising with national education stakeholders and organising dedicated translation webinars for governmental agencies and individual translators, UNESCO and its partners seek to support countries in developing and scaling up solutions to ensure the equitable continuation of learning during the COVID-19 crisis and strengthening the resilience of education systems beyond.