ABSTRACT
Basic literacy skills are essential: Worldwide, over 750 million adults lack basic literacy skills. Approximately 64 per cent of them are women.1 Illiteracy reduces the spread of new knowledge, for example, on modern agricultural methods and building up of a skilled workforce and it inhibits the empowerment of women. Education is a key building block in addressing the Global Challenges: The provision of good basic education and specialist knowledge and skills is the foundation on which all programmes to meet the Global Challenges are built. Each year of schooling raises earning power by 10 to 20 per cent. Literacy further contributes to improved hygiene and therefore overall health.
