WORLD IN BRIEF : WORLDWIDE : Nearly 1 Billion Adults Are Illiterate
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Nearly 1 billion adults in the world can neither read nor write, the head of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said. In ceremonies launching International Literacy Year, Federico Mayor, director general of UNESCO, said the number of illiterates has begun to decline for the first time in history. However, the education of women is still lagging, he said, and they make up most of the world’s illiterate population.
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