Annual Report 2017-2018

AUSTRALIAWorld Literacy Foundation

The World Literacy Foundation is a registered charitable organisation, with DGR and charity status. It is also registered with the Australian Charities and Not for Profit Commission.

Contact Us

Post: PO Box 532 South Melbourne VIC 3205 Street Address: Unit 15 20 Commercial Rd Melbourne VIC 3004 Phone: (03) 9995 0079Email: info@worldliteracyfoundation.org Website: www.worldliteracyfoundation.org

Social Media

ABN: 33 940 354 008 Incorporated Association No A0055790R

Twitter: @WorldLiteracy Facebook: @worldliteracyfoundation Instagram: @worldliteracy_foundation

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CONTACT US

Globally, it is estimated that 750 million people or 1 out of 10 of the total global population are illiterate. While literacy rates have improved since first measured in the 1950s, there are now more illiterate people on the planet than six decades ago, with the challenge facing politicians, policy makers, NGOs and educationalists remaining as great as ever.

Around 44 per cent of Australian adults lack the literacy skills required for everyday life, making daily tasks difficult. The early years are a critical time for children as they begin to learn skills and abilities they will contin-ue to develop throughout their lifetime.

We believe in equipping children and youth with the tools and platforms to enhance their reading abilities and skills that will enable them to suc-ceed in school and transcend beyond.

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ABOUT US

Trustees Ms Angelica Correa Project Coordinator, Refuge of Hope Inc

Mr Darryn Keneally Director of Janico Pty Ltd Mr Andrew Kay CEO of World Literacy Foundation International

Paula Londono Reading and Literacy Tutor John Stewart Community Development Manager

Management Team Andrew Kay, Chief Executive Officer

Project Managers Lennart Meijer, Project Manager, Sun Book Tablets

Nicole Ellis, Education Content Coordinator Jamie-Lee Kay, Campaigns Manager Andrea Gualteros, Graphic Designer

Cecilia Sandell, UK Office CoordinatorRenay Birchall, Events Coordinator

Volunteers Foez Mojumder, Grant WriterRenay Birchall, Grant Writer June Kiarie, Grant WriterLina Franzén, Fundraising Assistant Chris Byrne, Summit VolunteerAdela Sílešová, Summit VolunteerJordan Kay, Summit Volunteer Charlees Cree, Summit Volunteer

Dame Helen Mirren and Zoe Wanamaker, World Literacy Foundation Ambassadors

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OUR TEAM

Our MissionWe strive to ensure that every young individual regardless of geographic location has the opportunity to acquire literacy and reading skills to reach their full potential, succeed at school and beyond.

Our VisionWe envision a world in which every one of us can read and write, in which there is free access to education for all.

Our Goals To raise global literacy standards To provide free access to quality education materials To innovate solutions that target wide-scale illiteracy To encourage lifelong learning

The World Literacy Foundation Australia is an independent non-profit organisation and is also a collaborative partner and affiliate of WLF in the United Kingdom, United States, Latin America & Africa.

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OUR VISIONOUR GOALS

OUR MISSION

There are still 20 million classrooms in the world without access to basic educational resources and are completely off-the-grid, this equals just over a billion children globally that lack access to quality education. Teachers in remote communities often have to deal with large classroom sizes that lack educational resources to teach. Teachers do not have access to textbooks, school curriculum, teacher resources and limited access to educational resources. Sun Books is bridging this digital divide for teachers by providing access to educational resources, aligned with both local curriculum and international curriculum, through innovative tablet technology. The World Literacy Foundation’s initiative Sun Books is focusing on local education needs, cost effective learning methods, flexible adaptation and on elevating teachers through skill development, increasing motivation and effective retainment of quality teachers. Emphasising on teacher training and

supervision, SunBooks is aiming to increase the ability of teachers to provide quality education in these remote locations. By doing so, Sun Books aims to impact the lives of millions of children in an effective and sustainable way. If you want to be involved with Sun Books, please visit: www.sunbooktablet.org and/or send us an email at: info@sunbooktablet.org

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SUN BOOKS

In Australia, we have worked on fundraising to support the operations of Sun Books in Uganda. Volunteers have been the core of our fundraising and advocacy efforts and it is with the help of our dedicated volunteers that we can achieve great things as an organisation.

Sun Books in Uganda In Uganda we work with the National Curriuculum Development centre to ensure that all our content is localised and fits within the National Curriculum of Uganda. Additionally, we have worked with multiple partners to create content, increase implementation and ensure localisation. We are directly working with some great schools, teachers and children throughout Uganda.

Sun Books GlobalGlobally, Sun Books has forged partnerships with educational content providers, funding bodies, local government bodies, schools and many more. Additionally, Sun Books has worked with some great teachers and children.

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SUN BOOKS IN AUSTRALIA

On September 8, 2017, we ran campaigns across the globe, bringing together governments, NGOs, businesses, communities and schools to promote and sustain the importance of literacy to the international community. International Literacy Day Australia In Australia, 38 schools participated in International Literacy Day activities. “Literacy in a Digital World” was the theme of the 2017 International Literacy Day. The main objectives of this theme were:

To reflect on what it means to be literate in increasingly digitally-mediated societies;

To explore effective policies and programmes for literacy skills development in a digital world; and

To explore how digital technologies can support progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal 4, especially Target 4.6 on youth and adult literacy.

(UNESCO 2017)

All schools in Australia who participated ran activities and fundraisers based on this theme. All fundraising proceeds from schools in the Australia on International Literacy Day went to support the World Literacy Foundation’s initiative, Sun Books.

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INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY

Students on International Literacy Day

Students on International Literacy Day

Youth Ambassadors In 2017-18, we ran our Youth Ambassador Program to connect young, like-minded individuals from all over the world. Our Youth Ambassador Program connected over 300 young individuals from thirty countries around the world. They came from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures, with one common goal; to eradicate illiteracy and provide quality education for all children. The Youth Ambassadors worked together to uphold the importance of literacy and education in their schools and communities.

Youth Ambassador Program AustraliaIn Australia, we had over 50 Youth Ambassadors across the country working collaboratively in their communities and schools. They promoted global issues to the public to encourage others to take action in the fight against inequality and illiteracy.

Youth Ambassador Program Global Across the globe, we had over 300 Youth Ambassadors from thirty countries join the 2017 Youth Ambassador Program. They connected and promoted global issues in their local communities, to encourage others to take action in the fight against inequality and illiteracy.

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YOUTH AMBASSADOR PROGRAM

Youth Ambassador Fundraising

Youth Ambassador Fundraising

Meet one of our Australian Youth Ambassadors – Sophie My name is Sophie and I am a secondary school student from Melbourne, Australia. I am a keen badminton player, art enthusiast and an avid reader. On average, I would read around 5 books a week.

Why did you become a WLF Youth Ambassador?I became a World Literary Foundation Youth Ambassador as I wanted to do my part in making the world a more equal and fair place. As a strong feminist, I personally believe that if you want to enable gender equality, you must start with education. In a poverty-stricken community, it is generally the sons who are given the opportunity to go to school. The women stay at home, reliant on their male relatives for a source of income. Yet, if the women had the chance to receive some type of education, it would increase their chance for being accepted

for a high paying job. Hence, helping not just them but their whole family to break the poverty cycle.

Why do you believe education and literacy are so important?Being literate is one of the fundamental skills in life. It is a skill that citizens living in developed countries take for granted as it is essential for our everyday standard of living. It is required for legal documents, to communicate with oth-er people, to allow the transfer of reliant news and to know about life changing opportunities and pensions.

How do you want to change the world?If I could change anything about the world, it would be equality to all people. People should be given an equal chance of succeeding, they should be given opportunities based not on their race, gender, economic status or sexuality, but based on their actions and achievements.

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AUSTRALIA YOUTH AMBASSADOR PROFILE

Sophie, Youth Ambassador in Australia

In the Australia, The World Literacy Foundation ran 39 local projects during 2017/2018. These projects consisted of fundraising events, book distributions, Youth Ambassador activities and Sun Books related activities. We partnered with a community group called Reading Out of Poverty Inc to distribute children’s books and provide literacy tutoring and resources directly into disadvantaged communities around Victoria to support young children with literacy support and reading tools.

One example of our local projects is our Indigenous Literacy Project in East Arnhem land. In the region 95% of the children speak a local Indigenous dialect in their home and in the community, with limited or no use of English until their first day at school. This year, we started the development of a series of bilingual locally produced digital Children’s books and literacy games to help the Indigenous children learn English in parallel with their mother-tongue. The books & resources can be accessed via an app from school or home.

You can see a video link about the project at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQIF2cdmVZQ&t=184s

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LOCAL PROJECTS

In March 2018, the World Literacy Foundation organised and hosted the World Literacy Summit in Oxford, the United Kingdom.

The World Literacy Summit was well-attended and well-received by those present. Over 20 Delegates from the Australia attended the Summit. These Delegates were from literacy organisations, universities and leading education not for profit organisations.

Punctuated by keynotes from international experts across all fields in literacy the education, the Summit gave a sketch of literacy from Jordan to Nigeria and Australia to the Netherlands. Delegates came from various sectors; business, government, academia, not-for-profit and the media. The World

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WORLD LITERACY SUMMIT

HRH Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands

Literacy Foundation was the main organiser of the event. The World Literacy Summit attracted over 300 Delegates, including: Her Royal Highness The Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands, Carlos Canjura, Minister of Education of El Salvador, Gail Gallie co-founder at Project Everyone, Stacy Mackler VP of Lanôme USA, Noëlla Coursaris Musunka founder of Malaika, Nadia Naviwala Advisor at the Citizens Foundation, Clive Lee CEO of the Yidan Prize and Ambassadors and High Commissioners from Kosovo, Nepal, Afghanistan, Lesotho, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Gabon, Latvia, Brazil, Slovakia, Nicaragua, Cote d’Ivoire, from Chile and the list goes on.

Over fifty nationalities were represented at the Summit. They brought their knowledge, experience and diverse points of view about literacy and how we can collectively ‘Close the Literacy Gap in the 21st Century’, the Summit’s key theme. Presentations, panels, and workshops covered areas such as literacy in a digital world, girls’ education, the Sustainable Development Goals, adult and functional literacy, education

in emergencies, connectivity and collaboration in literacy.

The Summit highlighted the illiteracy epidemic in Australia and brought together Australian based organisations and institutions to promote collaboration. The Summit provided a platform for these organisations to network, connect and work together in addressing some of the most prevalent literacy problems across Australia.

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WORLD LITERACY SUMMIT

Panel- Girls’ and Women’s Literacy and Education for Sustainable Development

Research and Advocacy In March 2018, the World Literacy Foundation released the White Paper on The Economic & Social Cost of Illiteracy in the United Kingdom. The White Paper highlighted the national and global impact of illiteracy in economic and social terms.

The White Paper was released to the media on March 20, 2018, leading up to the World Literacy Summit. The report received great media attention from five media outlets in the United Kingdom.

To read the report, please contact info@worldliteracyfoundation.org

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RESEARCH AND ADVOCACY

Press Release on White Paper The World Literacy Foundation White Paper

THE ECONOMIC & SOCIAL COST OF ILLITERACY

A WHITE PAPER BY THE WORLD LITERACY FOUNDATION

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Nicole Ellis, Education Content CoordinatorNicole, originally from Seattle, USA joined the WLF team in September, 2017. Nicole joined the team for a duration of six months, on a fellowship. During her time in Australia and with the World Literacy Foundation she coordinated the managed the curation of education content for the World Literacy Foundation’s initiative, Sun Books.

Nicole’s worked for a consulting firm in Seattle and was keen to bring her expertise to the World Literacy Foundation in order to help de-velop the Sun Book’s program to enable more children in Uganda to gain access to books and early literacy tools that in the long-term will lead to decreased illiteracy rates and more prosperous societies.

Andrea Gualteros, Graphic DesignerAndrea, originally from Bogota, Colombia came on board with the WLF team in October, 2017 as a volunteer creating e-books for the World Literacy Foundation’s initiative, Sun Books.

In 2018, she became a part-time employee for the World Literacy Foundation as a graphic designer. Andrea is now responsible for designing all the digital content for the World Literacy Foundation.

It has been a very rewarding experience for Andrea to add her skills and experience to this great team and help further their literacy initiatives.

Andrea’s favourite book is Das Parfum by Patrick Süskind.

MEET SOME OF OUR TEAM

We have accomplished great things in 2017-18. It would not have been possible without the support of our volunteers, partners, donors, and supporters. Each year, our Annual Report offers us an opportunity to showcase our impact and to say thank you.

2017-18 was a monumental year of growth where we further developed our Sun Books program in Uganda, which will be a major focus for the years to come. Nearly 20 million classrooms across the globe do not have sufficient learning materials, textbook and access to the Internet. The Sun Books tablet is a simple solution to bring relevant and appropri-ate books to classrooms at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. This project is something that has never been possible before, and it will ultimately help millions improve their lives and reach their full potential.

Our projects in Uganda, Colombia, UK and USA have also further developed in 2017-18 which was increased our impact. We would like to thank our volunteers and supporters who have made this happen.

So, thank you again, and we look forward to working together to bring books, technology, and an equal chance to all.

— Andrew G Kay

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NOTE FROM OUR CEO

We would like to thank the following organisations and foundations for their support in 2017/2018:

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT)Warren Smith/Inyurpocket Software Pty Ltd

Trusts and FoundationsJames Kirby Foundation, Mr R Sarich, Bennelong

Foundation, Shine On Foundation, the Dept of Premier(Vic)

Community Groups Reading Out of Poverty Inc, International Literacy

Association, World Literacy Summit, Aboriginal Literacy Foundation

Additionally, we would like to thank our supporters who have fundraised and volunteered for the World Literacy

Foundation Australia in 2017/2018:

Nabil HassanBronwyn Dwyer

Matthew WearingIan Soe Latt

Sophie ShiMegha Dawer

Hawa MansarayLisa StilburnMona Atyabi

Anastasia PatralisStephanie ClarkTheresa LuoCaitlin LieKiran PereiraSunny ShomElla StimpsonAustin JainSnigdha PrasadLiza ClerehanKavishna MaharaSuzan WardaGrace PeharMax Muscatkhoder kaddourSamuel NortonDeha KurulGrace PeharAhmad KhawajaEmily YuenJemma WalshMolly RyanEgynne LimJodie HaJoseph JeongStephanie LurssenMaddison LearyElijah FokkensGokhan ZizovskiCheng QURenay BirchallJordan KayCharlees CreeFoez MojumderJune KiarieNicole Ellis Andrea Gualteros

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THANK YOU

AUSTRALIAN FINANCIALS 2017 - 2018

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