© Puku Children's Literature Foundation
Laureates of UNESCO International Literacy Prizes
2023
The UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize is awarded to:
- GraphoGame programme from Finland. GraphoGame is a Helsinki-based organization developed by two founders and has attracted a user base of over 5 million people. The GraphoGame app is a learning platform that uses personalized gameplay to teach essential literacy skills.
- The Himalayan Literacy Network (THLN) Programme from Pakistan. The Himalayan Literacy Network (THLN) is a non-governmental organization that delivers a quality, accredited pre-school and primary course of study to the children of Bakarwals, nomadic pastoralists who range the southern Himalayas.
- The Snapplify’ ‘Africa e-Library project’, based in South Africa. Snapplify is a leading edtech company in South Africa, offering digital learning solutions for individuals and institutions.
The UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy is awarded to:
- Friendship ‘Empowering remote and climate vulnerable Communities with Digital Literacy’ programme. Friendship, a non-governmental organization, has been working with remote and marginalized communities in Bangladesh for 21 years, with focus on four commitments: saving lives, poverty alleviation, climate adaptation, and empowerment.
- My Very Own Library: Cultivating a culture of reading in the homes of children in the Dominican Republic’ programme of the Dominican Republic Education and Mentoring (DREAM) Project. The DREAM Project offers transformative education in the Dominican Republic, empowering at-risk children and youth to create a better future. Through innovative programmes in literacy, early childhood education, youth leadership, music instruction, and community support, DREAM enriches lives and strengthens sustainable communities.
- Uganda National Self-Advocacy Initiative (UNSAI) ‘Peaceful Communities’ programme. UNSAI is a peer-led organization for individuals with psycho-social disabilities in Uganda's rural Kayunga District. Their vision is inclusive communities, advocating for human rights and equal access to support and mainstream services for persons with disabilities.
2022
The UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize is awarded to:
- ‘Native Scientist’ programme of Native Scientist, United Kingdom. ‘Native Scientist’ is a non-profit organisation working to foster scientific literacy and language development among marginalized children and adolescents by creating meaningful connections between students and scientists across Europe. The programme connects migrant children with international professionals experienced on Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM), who share a common cultural heritage and the same native language as the learners.
- ‘Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education’ programme of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, India. The programme aims to tackle the challenges of poor retention of indigenous students in elementary schools due to classroom language barriers and teachers' incapacity to deal with multilingual and multicultural classrooms effectively. The programme is in a hybrid format with face-to-face and distance learning modules using low-tech solutions such as television, radio, and text messaging.
- ‘Madrasa Arabic lessons’ programme of Madrasa, United Arab Emirates. Madrasa is a leading e-learning platform launched in 2018 to respond to the need to develop and enrich Arabic educational content and make it accessible to students. The ‘Madrasa Arabic lessons’ programme aims to provide basic literacy skills in the Arabic language by collaborating with a committee of experts and transforming traditional learning methods into an interactive and engaging format.
The UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy is awarded to:
- ‘Accessible Literature’ (Literatura Acessível) programme of Institute Include, Brazil. Institute Include aims to promote inclusion and social participation of people with disabilities through education, sport, and culture. The programme is an initiative that produces, reproduces and launches books in multiple formats, which includes simple reading in braille, Libras (Brazilian sign language), audio description, and pictograms. The programme has enrolled 2,022 learners, 55% of whom are girls and women.
- ‘People Accessible Network for Digital Empowerment and Inclusivity (PANDei)’ programme of Sarawak State Library, Malaysia. With local government support, the programme aims to help build a comprehensive support network, empowering local communities’ digital competencies and skills for building a digital-ready community. From 2018 to 2022, 81,057 learners benefitted from the programme, which also helped train 54 facilitators and teachers through two Train of Trainer (ToT) activities.
- 'School Readiness through Community Participation' programme of The Molteno Institute for Language and Literacy, South Africa. The programme aims to equip children, schools and communities to prepare Grade R (Reception Year) learners for formal schooling. Furthermore, the programme enables school readiness by involving local communities and parents through local languages in the context of underserved school communities of rural South Africa.
2021
The UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize was awarded to:
- Limitless Horizons Ixil, in Guatemala for its 'Broadcasting Bilingual Stories: Promoting Interactive Literacy Programming in Rural Guatemala' programme.
- National Institute of Open Schooling, in India for its ‘Enabling education of persons with disabilities through technology enabled inclusive learning material, with specific focus on Indian sign language based content' programme.
- Puku Children's Literature Foundation, in South Africa for its 'Using digital technologies to promote children's literature in South Africa's indigenous languages' programme.
The UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy was awarded to:
- ONG GA-TIC Côte d'Ivoire, in Côte d'Ivoire for its 'Functional literacy for traders in Abidjan through the use of ICT' programme.
- Ain-Shams University, in Egypt for its 'Ain Shams University experience in organizing online literacy classes for rural areas in Egypt' programme.
- Construyendo y Creciendo, in Mexico for its 'Building & Growing' programme.
2020
The UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize was awarded to:
- Ageing Nepal, in Nepal for its ‘Basic Literacy Class for Older Persons’ programme
- The country’s first programme to target older people who have moved from rural settings to urban areas. It empowers the elderly by supporting their ability to live independently through intergenerational adult literacy education in the national language, Nepali. Ageing Nepal is a national leading non-government organization registered with the government of Nepal and affiliated to the Social Welfare Council.
- United World Schools, in United Kingdom for its ‘Providing Non-Burmese Speaking Out-of-School Children with Access to Education’ programme
The programme provides access to primary education for out-of-school children from linguistic minority communities in Myanmar’s Shan State. By employing and training community members as teachers, the programme allows children to study in their mother tongue, while bringing employment and capacity-building opportunities to teachers. United World Schools (UWS) is an international charity based in the United Kingdom that focuses on sustainable quality education..
The UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy was awarded to:
- Just Commit Foundation, in Ghana for its ‘Inspirational Business Stories’ programme
This programme has an innovative approach to literacy teaching and learning through business story books that inspire and guide children and youth to create sustainable businesses with limited resources. It promotes the use of waste such as paper, plastic, fabric and e-waste to create new, inexpensive and reusable products. The beneficiaries learn eco-entrepreneurship in both their local language and English, including how to develop business models, set up and run successful, sustainable and environmentally-friendly businesses. The programme also develops young peoples' personal skills such as confidence, team-work, leadership and problem-solving, and combines literacy and sustainability for the broader community. JCF was established in 2017 as a non-profit organization to leverage innovation at the service of youth and children. - University Center for Social Participation, in Mexico for its ‘Literacy programme: learning by teaching’
Based on the creation of support networks, the programme supports the idea of global citizenship whereby volunteer college students, previously trained by mentors, live together in a rural community to teach young people and adults how to read and write, while also educationally supporting children. It is a unique model of participatory training and critical reflection on the different social problems in the context of life skills training. This approach aims to ensure sustainability and building relationships between different sectors of the society to create positive interdependency. - General Literacy Office in Sanaa, in Yemen for its ‘Educating and integrating refugees in literacy classes in Yemeni society’ programme
This exemplary local programme operating despite war and displacement, caters to illiterate refugees regardless of their nationality. It helps them acquire literacy skills so that they can benefit from a range of learning opportunities throughout life, including the acquisition of life skills needed to face the social and economic challenges. The programme employs flexible pedagogies adapted to different age groups and abilities to help them qualify for enrollment in formal education. The General Literacy Office in Sanaa is part of the Literacy and Adult Education Organization of the Yemeni ministry of Education, which operates in 21 provinces and supervises over 215 literacy centres in 11 districts in Yemen.
2019
The UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize was awarded to:
- National Office of Literacy and Education for Adults, in Algeria for its ‘National Strategy for Multilingual Literacy’ programme
- Textile Fibres and Development Company (SODEFITEX), in Senegal for its ‘Functional literacy and follow-up vocational training for farmers in southern Senegal in national languages’ programme
The UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy was awarded to:
- Camacol Antioquia, in Colombia for its ‘Obras Escuala’ programme
- BASAbali, in Indonesia for its ‘BASAbali Wiki’ programme
- Nuovo Comitato il Nobel per I Disabili, in Italy for its ‘TELL ME - Theatre for Education and Literacy Learning of Migrants in Europe’ programme
2018
The UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize was awarded to:
- Aid Afghanistan for Education in Afghanistan for its ‘Accelerated Education for Marginalized Women and Girls’ programme
- The Ministry of Education and Culture in Uruguay for its ‘Permanent Learning Programme’
The UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy was awarded to:
- The Literacy Movement Organization in the Islamic Republic of Iran for its ‘Consolidated teaching of literacy and ICDL basic computer skills’ programme
- The Nigerian Prisons Service in Nigeria for its ‘National Open University of Nigeria - Prison Study Centres and Inmates General Education Programme’
- The Foundation Elche Acoge in Spain for its programme ‘Spanish as a second language for adult immigrants’ programme
2017
The UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize was awarded to:
- We Love Reading for its Programme in Jordan
- The Centre for the Study of Learning & Performance (CSLP) at Concordia University in Canada for its programme ‘Using Educational Technology to Develop Essential Educational Competencies in Sub-Saharan Africa’
The UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy was awarded to:
- The Secretariat of Information and Communications Technologies of the city of Armenia in Colombia for its ‘AdulTICoProgram’
- The Citizens Foundation in Pakistan for its ‘Aagahi Literacy Programme for Women and Out-of-School Girls’
- ‘FunDza Literacy Trust’ in South Africa for its programme ‘Growing FunDza readers and writers’