International Literacy Day 2026

For over 50 years, the world has celebrated International Literacy Day on September 8. The day is an acknowledgement of the essential role that literacy plays in allowing people to succeed.

Today we mark International Literacy Day 2026 by reaffirming what Anera has always believed: that the ability to read and write is not a privilege — it is a foundation for dignity, opportunity, and self-determination. In Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan, conflict, displacement, and economic hardship continue to push children and young people out of school and away from learning. Anera’s work pushes back.

As children around the world prepare for the first day of school, the reality in Gaza looks very different. For hundreds of thousands of children, there are no school buildings to return to. There are 392 temporary classrooms running across Gaza, reaching roughly 221,000 children, about a third of the need, taught by nearly 5,200 teachers. As part of that response, since October 2023, Anera and its partners, have reached more than 77,000 children from kindergarten through school age across Gaza, with emotional support and safe places to learn, ensuring that even amid destruction and displacement, learning does not stop. Every child deserves a place to go on the first day of school — even if that place looks nothing like what it used to.

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International Literacy Day 2025

Today on International Literacy Day 2025 we join the global call to recognize that the ability to read and write is a basic human right and a foundation for dignity and opportunity. In places like Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank), Lebanon and Jordan children and youth face disrupted schooling, economic hardship and displacement.

In Gaza, where schools have been destroyed and families forced from their homes, the struggle to preserve learning is especially urgent. Anera works every day to make sure that literacy is not lost to conflict and crisis, bringing books, teachers and safe spaces for learning even in the hardest conditions.

Through programs like Hayya Naqra in Palestine we bring age-appropriate learning materials and trained teachers into preschools, giving young learners the strong start they deserve.

In Lebanon and Jordan our vocational and non-formal education programs help adolescents and young adults gain not only literacy skills but also the confidence to continue their education or pursue careers.

These investments ripple outward, strengthening entire communities.

International Literacy Day is a reminder that education is about more than classrooms. It is about hope, agency and a future where every child can read their own story. Anera’s commitment to literacy is woven into our humanitarian and development work, ensuring that even amid war and displacement the right to learn remains alive.

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International Literacy Day 2024

On World Literacy Day 2024, we reflect on how conflict devastates education systems and places of learning, leaving countless children without access to basic literacy. When schools are destroyed, the chance to learn becomes a distant dream and robs communities of hope and a brighter future.

At Anera, literacy and education are the cornerstones of our mission. Even in the darkest times, we remain committed to uplifting places of learning and creating safe spaces where knowledge can flourish. Our upcoming programs in Gaza will establish makeshift classrooms and provide children with the supplies they need to continue their education despite the challenges they face.

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International Literacy Day 2023

Anera is proud of its many years of dedication to providing basic literacy courses that have supported and continue to support hundreds on their journey to learn to read, write and count. Literacy is the key to self-development to finding opportunities and to live a better life. Let us always celebrate new skills that enable individuals and society to build a better future.

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Literacy Day 2022

How do you navigate a city when you can’t rely on street signs or written directions? How do you ensure your prescriptions are filled correctly and taken properly? How do you read to your children at night?

From job applications to family WhatsApp group chats (and even this message!), literacy affects nearly every aspect of life. Anera’s basic math and literacy courses provide young people in Lebanon with the reading and writing skills they need to live independently and access opportunities.

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