Julianne Moore pushes to end illiteracy by 2030
Today, 32 million American adults cannot read while one in four children grow up without learning how to read. Globally, one in 10 people on the planet are unable to read and write.
And the consequences are dire—contributing to everything from infant mortality, unemployment and higher rates of disease.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of International Literacy Day, 26 of the world’s most high profile personalities from film, music, politics and the arts, joined forces to raise awareness for literacy with one common goal: By 2030, no child will be born at risk of poor literacy.
Oscar-winning actress and advocate Julianne Moore joined Yahoo Finance at the “Mighty Pencil” exhibit in TriBeCa to talk about Project Literacy—a movement backed by the likes of UNESCO and The Hunger Project—which aims to bring to light the real impact of illiteracy.
“Without literacy there is no opportunity to transcend the economic and social constraints of past generations,” Julianne Moore said. “The ability to read and write, can, and will, change lives and pave the way for future generations to thrive. And on a personal level, reading has been the one thing that has at once opened the world to me, and made me feel less alone. We all deserve that,” she said.
The inability to read and write is linked to almost every major global development challenge.
“There is a strong argument that tackling illiteracy and low literacy, as a ‘foundational’ social problem, would pay greater dividends than tackling each issue separately,” according to Dr. Dan Wagner, UNESCO Chair in Learning and Literacy at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of Penn’s International Literacy Institute.
Particularly during a heated political season in the US between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, where inequality is especially in focus, the stakes are high.
“With Hillary Clinton you have a candidate who has always worked for families and children and who has always believed in healthcare and education,” Moore told Yahoo Finance.
Project Literacy’s “Alphabet of Illiteracy” highlights just some of the key issues that rise from illiteracy, represented by each letter. Just a few examples are listed below.
“D” is for drug abuse, as addiction is highest among communities who cannot read or write, adding to crime and also costs to society.
“G” is for gender inequality, as two-thirds of the 757 million people who cannot read or write are women.
“P” is for poverty, because if everyone could read and write, 171 million people would be lifted out of poverty.
“R” is for radicalization. In Nigeria, being able to read and write was the second most important factor in stopping people moving to extremism.
“T” is for trillion dollars.Making the world literate would add $1.19 trillion to the global economy.
“We still have way too large percentage of people who are illiterate in the world,” Moore said. “Get involved, pay attention, see what you can do in your community and donate.”