Local Capacity Building for Literacy Training

Working with NGOs in South-East Asia and the Pacific

Many countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific have attained high levels of literacy. But others continue to face difficulties in addressing the high incidence of illiteracy, especially among women. Those countries include Cambodia, Lao PDR in South-East Asia, and in the Pacific, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

Graphic examples can be cited. In Cambodia, for instance, the literacy rate among women between 20 to 24 years of age was 22.4 per cent as of 1990. The overall literacy rates for the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea were 22 per cent and 52 per cent, respectively, with female literacy rates about half those of males.

To address this situation and to assist women to become fully productive members of society, effective local-level organizations are indispensable deliverers of non-formal literacy education. ESCAP is currently implementing a project, Literacy for Women through Capacity-Building of Local Organizations that is providing local-level organizations with planning and management training, so that they can implement literacy training programmes more effectively.

Activities and time schedule

August - December 1996	Identification of partner organizations and needs assessment
April - June 1997	Subregional workshops
July - December 1997	National workshops
January - June 1998	Local workshops
July - December 1998	Implementation of literacy courses
January - June 1999	National evaluation workshops
July - September 1999	Subregional evaluation workshops
December 1999	Printing of project report

In Cambodia, the national partner organization will be Khemera. Partner organizations have yet to be selected in Bhutan, which is also participating in the project, and Lao PDR. In the Pacific, the partner organizations are the PNG Trust in Papua New Guinea; the Literacy Association for Solomon Islands (LASI) in the Solomon Islands; and the National Kommunity Development Trust (NKDT) in Vanuatu.

The project is being implemented with technical support from the UNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia and Pacific. The project is funded by the Government of the Republic of Korea.