UNESCO International Literacy Prizes

The five 2007 UNESCO International Literacy Prizes have been awarded to literacy projects in China, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and the United States. The winners were proclaimed by UNESCO's Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura, on the recommendation of an international jury. A project in Spain was also awarded an Honourable Mention.

UNESCO International Reading Association Literacy Prize : The Community Education Administration Centre, Longsheng Ethnic Minority Autonomous Country (People’s Republic of China)

UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prizes: TOSTAN (Senegal)
This non-governmental organization (NGO) works mainly in rural areas providing literacy and life skills for women around such issues as female and reproductive health, human rights and dignity, empowerment and community development.

UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prizes: The Children’s Book Project (Tanzania)
The Children’s Book Project (Tanzania) works to develop a strong reading culture and a literate environment. It promotes local languages and strengthens the local book production industry through the training of teachers, writers, publishers and illustrators.

UNESCO Confucius Prizes: The NGO Family Re-orientation Education and Empowerment (FREE) (Nigeria)
This organization works to establish an effective network for community development by creating community programmes targeting especially women and girls.

UNESCO Confucius Prizes : Reach Out and Read (United States of America)
This NGO works through neighbourhood clinics, hospitals and public health departments to reach low-income children at risk of school failure. It offers literacy guidance to young families and promotes a reading culture.

The Honourable Mention was awarded to the NGO Fundación Adunare, CODEF Adult Education Centre (Spain)
The NGO works to build a society that encourages critical thinking, integrates active and dynamic individuals and forges relationships through dialogue.

More Than Meets the Eye....Ending Violence Against Women

Fighting gender-based violence is a major concern for UNIFEM, because violence against women is a universal problem and one of the most widespread violations of human rights. One in three women will suffer some form of violence in her lifetime, becoming part of an epidemic that devastates lives, fractures communities and stalls development. Despite some progress on this issue over the past decade, its horrendous scale remains mostly unacknowledged. New dimensions include the global trafficking of women and girls.

1. Statistics paint a horrifying picture of the social and health consequences of violence against women.
   
2. Violence against women is a major cause of death and disability for women 16 to 44 years of age.
   
3. It is as serious a cause of death and incapacity among women of reproductive age as cancer, and a greater cause of ill-health than traffic accidents and malaria combined .
   
4. Several studies have revealed increasing links between violence against women and HIV/AIDS. Women who have experienced violence are at a higher risk of HIV infection: a survey among 1,366 South African women showed that women who were beaten by their partners were 48 per cent more likely to be infected with HIV than those who were not.

The economic cost of violence against women is considerable — a 2003 report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the costs of intimate partner violence in the United States alone exceed US$5.8 billion per year: US$4.1 billion are for direct medical and health care services, while productivity losses account for nearly US$1.8 billion . Whereas the figures calculated in miscellaneous studies vary considerably from country to country due to different methodologies applied, it has been established clearly that the economic costs of violence against women are enormous.
They impoverish individuals, families, communities and governments and reduce the economic development of each nation.

"Acts of Random Kindness"

This little trooper gave up his mother for 4 weeks, gave up his naps, his playtime, and most importantly his cheeks( very sweet and yummy) for his aunt ... all the time worried about her being scared when it's nighttime and dark in Canada... and then he swept the whole condo, (his idea) to be of more help... He is my essence of generosity... and my LOVE!

who would have thought this all those years ago?