Literacy—A Great Investment Opportunity

Today, literacy is still largely reserved for the powerful. According to the World Bank, there are about 1 billion illiterate adults in the world today, and 98 percent of them live in the developing world. Worldwide, about one in four adults is illiterate, and two thirds of all non-literates are women. Generally, the poorest countries have the lowest literacy rates. Haiti is no exception. Just over 80 percent of Haiti’s people earns less than one dollar a day, and about the same percentage are illiterate.

The encouraging news behind these statistics is that it is relatively inexpensive to increase literacy rates and provide basic education. Oxfam International estimates that providing the unschooled children of the world with a basic education would cost only about $6 billion a year, less than what Americans spend on cosmetics each year ($8 billion) and less than 1 percent of what is spent each year on the world’s militaries ($780 billion).

Supporting literacy training and basic education is one of the most cost effective investments for changing and improving the lives of the poorest. For example, providing girls and women with a basic education has been shown to be one of the cheapest and most effective ways to reduce population growth in many countries.

But the economic and ecological benefits of literacy training are only part of the equation. Often the top reason poor people give for wanting to become literate is so that they no longer feel like second-class citizens, excluded from society. And in Haiti, a top reason participants give for wanting to learn to read and write is so that they can read the Bible and fully participate in the life of their church.