United Nation And Coalition Support Local Iraqi Efforts
More than 6 million adults in Iraq are illiterate. And these adults are not illiterate by choice for the most part, they have not had the opportunity or the chance to learn. One of the things that the nation of Iraq has tried to begin is to start the very first National literacy program. The United Nations Educational Organization estimates that more than 60 percent of the adult population is not able to write or read.
UN officials point to the fact that Iraq used to be the most educated, it was once considered the shining star of Arab education, despite the fact that it was under Saddam Hussein. According to records that the United Nations has kept over the years, from 1979 there used to be 6,000 men and over 1.5 million who were enrolled in the program, and there was formally 23,000 literacy centers that had United Nations Support.
In the overall chaos that followed the fall of Saddam, the different infrastructure that was in place fell apart, and soon there was no more literacy program. This was a rough thing for the nation, and for those that were in the initial stages of learning it was a crushing blow.
In the last 18 months the UN has restarted the literacy program, and it has began even early on to pay dividends for those that are enrolled. Now, those that wish to learn to read and write have options again as literacy centers are being established again around Iraq.
