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GLOBAL SUPPORTERS
International Celebrities Support our Mission
The World Literacy Foundation is grateful for the ongoing support and contributions from important influencers and like-minded people in the literacy and education sector.

Dame Helen Mirren
Learning to read is such a fundamental skill and sets children up to excel at school and life, but illiteracy is a reality for many. I'm proud to support UK reads in its aim to bring the joy and power of reading to UK children and their families who don't have any books at home.

Stephen Fry
Every child, no matter their circumstances, deserves access to books and literacy support. Please support the World Literacy Foundation with a gift today.

Stacey Fru
I support the World Literacy Foundation because their ideas to eradicate illiteracy worldwide will lead to a multitude of good things

Sarah Turner
Books bring magic to children - mine included - and open doors that last a lifetime. I was heartbroken to learn of the UK illiteracy statistics and I hope I can help spread the word about the vital work UK Reads are doing and in turn, help more children discover the joy of escaping into stories.

Bolu Babalola
Reading has always felt like home to me, a place where I could both find myself and discover new things about myself. I was a shy child and stories allowed myself to hone my voice - it honed the muscles of my imagination in a way that allowed me a way to envision saying things that were held captive in my head until one day I could. I wish for every child to have the opportunity to find stories they can learn about the world and themselves from, books that feel like support and inspiration for who they can become and what their futures hold.

Emma Gannon
I am so proud to be supporting the World Literacy Foundation and Uk Reads. Raising literacy standards for every child is something we should all care deeply about, and I am so excited to support such a brilliant foundation who are working towards reducing the shocking illiteracy numbers in the UK. Growing up reading was my favourite think in the world to do (as an adult, still is!). Reading and writing aren't just important life skills but can allow us to dream, escape, explore and help us become whoever you want to be.

Tom McLaughlin
I am delighted to be an advocate of the World Literacy Foundation; books are the foundations that help build and shape our lives. They make us think, dream, understand and fly. They make us who we are. While it should be a human right to have the access to knowledge it should never be taken for granted. That's why I'm delighted to be part of the team and help in my way I can.
NEWS
Stories from our Community

WLF ambassador from Kenya educates girls on the importance of literacy and education
July 24, 2021
Maureen Odhiambo, a #WLFambassador from Kenya, visited a primary school to educate girls on the importance of literacy and education. We are so proud to see how ambassadors are using their voice as their most powerful weapon in our fight against illiteracy.

WLF volunteer Sneha Nadella won a recognition at the Daily Point of Light Awards
July 15, 2021
Through the World Literacy Foundation, Sneha, a rising high school senior from Plano, Texas, serves children around the globe to support their education and promote literacy. From Ethiopia to India, Sneha is volunteering to lift young people out of poverty through the power of literacy.

2021 World Literacy Awards to be celebrated on International Literacy Day
July 15, 2021
The World Literacy Awards recognizes individuals or organizations annually for their outstanding endeavors to promote literacy. This year, the Judging Panel of 10 eminent leaders from across the global includes literacy leaders, Nobel Literature Prize recipients and award winning authors.
WLF has grown to align with the needs of an evolving education sector. The World Literacy Foundation has worked towards forging partnerships with other leading educational and related not-for-profit organisations, and has built long-lasting relationships within communities around the world. WLF Ambassador Fundraising -t World Literacy Foundation significantly dedicates its time and resources to conducting research, and uses resulting information to help advocate in local communities as well as on a global scale.
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The World Literacy Foundation volunteers and partner communities have worked in Azerbaijan, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Colombia, Mozambique, Uganda, and other developing countries to provide access to quality education and learning resources to disadvantaged communities. With bases on five of the seven continents, the tailors each operation to the country’s specific literacy needs.
In the African sect based in Uganda, where many people live in poverty and have no electricity the World Literacy Foundation has donated solar powered tablets. Paired with the Sun Books initiative the World Literacy Foundation is not just donating recourses but also training to teachers at the primary school level.
Where the foundation was started in Australia, the goal is geared towards closing the gap of literacy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. For indigenous people illiteracy rates are a more prominent problem. To improve skills such as reading and number skills, the World Literacy Foundation has developed a program called the Indigenous Learning App. This app contains multilingual e-books and multiple literacy games in not just English but also the local dialect in Australia.[6]
In the African sect with headquarters in Uganda, where many people live in poverty and have no electricity the World Literacy Foundation has donated solar powered tablets. Paired with the Sun Books initiative the World Literacy Foundation is not just donating recourses but also training to teachers at the primary school level on how to use these resources effectively. The solar powered tablets come preloaded with digital learning content and multilingual e-books. In Uganda only roughly 27% of people have access to electricity and the cost of one book can be a whole month’s salary.
These sunbooks.org are useful in the sense that they do not need to be electrically charged and are universal tools, coming loaded with multiple uses.[7] Several years ago, the World Literacy Foundation founded their South America sect in Manizales, Colombia. Latin America is in dire need of educational reform, over 35 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate.
Here it is only expected that children attend school for 6 years compared to the traditional 12 most other countries require. To help improve these statistics the World Literacy Foundation runs two classes a week for over 60 children and other community members. During beneficial classes the World Literacy Foundation supports learners of all ages with tutoring and reading services.[7] In the United Kingdom illiteracy costs the UK’s economy roughly $50 billion USD a year.
It is here the World Literacy Foundation has run 26 fundraising projects, book distribution drives and provides numerous services. To help combat illiteracy the World literacy Foundation provides services such as parent mentoring, tutoring services, delivering literacy recourses, and distributes multilingual children/baby books. In the UK the World Literacy Foundation also has made a pack to new mothers to whom English would not be their first language to improve literacy and help them improve their standard of life.[7] Even in the United States of America there is a literacy crisis.
This gap can be measured by 30 million words, and this stretches from learners who live in poverty to those who are afforded the best education money can buy. Although it is not just the socioeconomics that divide America’s literate, literacy rates also greatly range between racial groups. To support American learners the World Literacy Foundation has encouraged 150 schools to participate in International literacy Day.
In February 2019 a project called Michigan Reads debuted; this is an initiative to provide tutoring and literacy resources to children from all backgrounds in Michigan. In America there are also over 60 Youth Ambassadors who promote literacy in their schools and communities.[7] Global projects The World Literacy Foundation hosts several global projects a year. The most popular being the International Day of Literacy.