ABSTRACT

This introduction present an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines one key component in development assistance — the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) — an intriguing, complex and controversial UN Specialised Agency. It seeks to explore UNESCO by exploring its most consistent and intensive single commitment — to universal literacy. The book highlights the ideological, diplomatic, economic, bureaucratic, intellectual and moral dimensions of life in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation and the influence of their interaction on an identifiable UNESCO approach to literacy. It analyses the work of international organisations that require examination of data that lead in two directions. The politics of UNESCO and the politics of literacy intersect here in a manner fascinating to explore, revealing much about the educational response of the international community to this industrial and technological imperative.