On 26th of March 2018, Adult Literacy Award Ceremony was held in the Government Media Information Center in Kabul.

Ms. Patricia McPhillips, the Director and Representative of UNESCO in Afghanistan, Niclas Thalén the First Secretary Development Cooperation Embassy of Sweden in Kabul, Dr. Sardar Mohammad Rahimi, Deputy Minister of Education for Literacy (DMoEL), other government and non-government officials and media reporters attended the event.

As the Goodwill Ambassador for Youth and Adult Literacy in Afghanistan, First Lady of Afghanistan, H.E. Madam Rula Ghani, acknowledged the achievements in the field of literacy, and expressed her enthusiasm for the skill based literacy initiative. She added that, ‘Literacy initiative is the key step towards the development of our nation’.

Ms. Patricia said, ‘UNESCO supports the Government and the people of Afghanistan in working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (#Literacy4All).’  She also mentioned that with supports from key partners such as Japan, Sweden, Finland and the Republic of Korea, many Afghans particularly women and girls who did not have the opportunity to get education before, currently have access to basic literacy and education at all levels.

Dr. Rahimi appreciated all stakeholders’ support for literacy. He thanked the program donors – Japan, Finland, Sweden and South Korea, and emphasized on the importance of continuing to support literacy programs in Afghanistan.

At the end, the Literacy Development Management project of the Ministry of Defense received first position, the National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan NFUAJ-Kabul office took second position, and the Patriots’ Occupational Organization was worth knowing as the third position. The winners received 2,000 USD, 1,500 USD and 1,000 USD respectively for their outstanding activities in literacy education.