The International Literacy Day is celebrated on 8th September every year throughout the world. On this day, in the year 1965 the World Congress of Ministers of Education met in Tehran for the first time to discuss the programme of education at the international level. The UNESCO in its 14th Session in November, 1966, declared 8th September as the International Literacy Day. Since then, ILD is celebrated on 8th September every year by most of the member countries. Objectives The key aspect of the observance of ILD is to mobilize public opinion in favour of struggle against illiteracy. ILD is a forum to disseminate information on literacy and raise the public awareness and the significance of literacy for individual and national development. It is an occasion to mark achievements and reflect on ways to counter remaining challenges for the promotion of literacy as an integral part of lifelong learning within and beyond the 2030 Education Agenda. International Literacy Day (ILD) 2026 Literacy is a fundamental human right for all. It opens the door to the enjoyment of other human rights, greater freedoms, and global citizenship. Literacy is a foundation for people to acquire broader knowledge, skills, values, attitudes, and behaviours to foster a culture of lasting peace based on respect for equality and non-discrimination, the rule of law, solidarity, justice, diversity, and tolerance and to build harmonious relations with oneself, other people and the planet. Despite progress, at least 739 million youth and adults worldwide still lack basic literacy skills in 2024. At the same time, 4 in 10 children are not reaching minimum proficiency in reading, and 272 million children and adolescents were out of school in 2023. This year, International Literacy Day (ILD) marks its 60th anniversary. It was proclaimed by UNESCO in 1966 during the 14th session of the General Conference. Celebrated under the theme “Literacy for people, the planet and prosperity," ILD 2026 provides an opportunity to take stock of progress, deepen understanding of persistent and emerging challenges, and shape future literacy agendas in a rapidly changing world. Over the past six decades, countries and partners worldwide have advanced literacy as a fundamental human right and a powerful driver of peace and sustainable development. Building on this progress, ILD2026 will celebrate achievements, especially since 2015, while identifying remaining and emerging challenges. It will also provide a platform to highlight effective policies, practices and partnerships to advance literacy for all in support of peaceful and sustainable societies. Literacy skills and challenges continue to evolve in a rapidly changing world. Digitalization, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), is reshaping how literacy policies, systems, programmes and practices aredesigned, implemented and monitored. It also reminds us of the necessity of a solid foundationalliteracy base and raises demands for higher-order skills to engage with knowledge and informationcritically, safely and responsibly. In particular, literacy skills that enable individuals to read ‘the world’critically - going beyond merely decoding ‘words’ – form the foundation for becoming agents of transformation. Literacy is also essential for acquiring broader sets of knowledge, skills, attitudes,values, and competencies in different areas - be it media and information literacy, financial literacy,technical and vocational skills, health, political and social sciences, environmental science, citizenshipeducation, and cultures. Source : UNESCO Related resources Education 2030: Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action (2015) Sustainable Development Goal 4 and its targets.