Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement calls for harnessing education

Dr. Hanif Al Qassim, Chairman of the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue, stated that the international community has made significant progress in eradicating illiteracy, but despite the progress at least 750 million adults and 264 million out-of-school children still lack basic literacy skills.

Dr. Al Qassim has called for creating a safe learning environment that guarantees fundamental human rights and promotes social inclusion and openness.

''Digital technologies have brought peoples and cultures ever closer and students today are harnessing advanced information technology, to increase their knowledge and learning abilities,'' he added, in a statement marking International Literacy Day, which is celebrated across the world on 8th September, under the slogan, "Literacy in a Digital World."

''Apart from reading and writing, the Arab youth today require critical thinking, to avoid falling prey to self-extremism, a social ill that is rapidly spreading through the internet and social media platforms," he stressed.

According to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, digital technologies are fundamentally changing the way people live, work, learn and socialise everywhere at record speed. They are providing new possibilities for people to improve all areas of their lives, including access to information, knowledge management, networking, social services, industrial production and their mode of work. However, those who lack access to digital technologies and the knowledge, skills and competencies required to utilise them can become marginalised in increasingly digital societies, where literacy is an essential skill.