LocationsLearning today to transform tomorrow
The words that change lives
September 4, 2026
If you are reading these words, you are already doing something that 739 million adults worldwide still do not fully master: reading and writing.
For most of us, reading is such a natural act that it has become almost invisible. We read a text message. We check a price. We balance our accounts. We review a document before signing it. We help a child with their homework.
Ordinary actions, often carried out without a second thought. Yet behind each of them lies a skill that can change a life.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of International Literacy Day. Six decades after UNESCO proclaimed it, access to basic literacy skills remains a major global challenge.
Yet learning knows no age.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Benin and the Central African Republic, literacy transforms very different realities: managing a business more effectively, preparing for life after detention, or opening new opportunities in communities rebuilding after crisis.
Three different contexts. One common starting point: a few words, a few numbers and everything they make possible.
“Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope.”– Kofi Annan
Democratic Republic of the Congo: When numbers begin to make sense
Bora Lwahisa knew how to sell.
What she did not yet know was whether she was actually making a profit.
In Minova, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, she ran her small business without always being able to distinguish her capital from her earnings.
She was far from alone.
“Many women were selling their products without being able to calculate their profits or distinguish capital from income,” explains Isidore Safari, Head of the Action pour la Promotion de l'Environnement Social (APES) in Minova.
That is why everything had to begin with words and numbers.
APES integrated functional literacy into the Community Recovery Programme, as part of UNDP's Crisis Plan supporting conflict-affected communities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Training takes place in five schools, while literacy circles are organized close to communities and scheduled around participants' family responsibilities. Some women attend classes with their babies strapped to their backs. Others walk dozens of kilometres. Some are over the age of 60.
In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, UNDP integrates functional literacy into recovery programmes supporting conflict-affected communities.
Photo: UNDP RDC
Literacy and numeracy skills allow small business owners to operate more effectively and keep track of revenues and expenses.
Photo: UNDP RDC/Othniel Lukusa
Participants gradually build essential reading, writing and numeracy skills. Lessons combine these foundations with practical exercises directly linked to their daily lives, such as keeping records, calculating profits and losses, and signing official documents.
After just two months, Bora can already see the difference.
“At first I was operating at a loss, but since learning to read, write and calculate, I have started managing my small business much better. I can now write my own name. I am very proud of my progress.”
Her next goal?
To help her children with their homework.
Originally designed for 120 participants, the programme now reaches 321 learners, including 319 women and girls. Beyond literacy, the learning circles have become spaces for solidarity and social connection within conflict-affected communities.
UNDP's Crisis Plan is funded by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo through the National Fund for Reparations to Victims of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence and Victims of Crimes against Peace and the Security of Humanity, as well as by Canada, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea and Sweden.
For Bora, change is now reflected in a name she can write, accounts she is beginning to understand, and the hope that she will soon be able to support her children in their own learning journey.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, learning helps people move ahead from past troubles.
Behind the walls of three prisons in Benin, it is also about preparing for what comes next.
Benin: Unlocking opportunity
In a classroom inside Abomey Prison, Marie (not her real name) writes her name.
A simple gesture.
Yet for years, she had never been able to do it.
Before her incarceration, she could neither read nor write. Today, she can write her children's names. And she is already imagining what she will carry with her when she one day leaves prison.
“Before coming to prison, I couldn't write my name or do basic calculations. Today, I can. I can easily write my children's names... I am very happy knowing that one day I will leave this prison with a literacy certificate.”
In Akpro-Missérété, Abomey and Parakou, 13 classrooms have opened behind the walls of three prisons. Since January 2026, 233 inmates, including 19 women, have chosen to learn how to read, write and count.
Implemented by the Benin Prison Agency through the Integrated Literacy and Education Programme in Correctional Facilities, with support from the U.S. Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and UNDP, the programme provides 250 to 300 hours of training over six months. Several days a week, participants attend three-hour classes led by trained literacy instructors. Lessons are delivered in French, as well as in Fon, Yoruba, Fulfulde and Baatonum, enabling participants to learn in the language best suited to their background and ambitions.
For inmates in Benin, learning to read and write opens new possibilities for life after incarceration.
Photo: UNDP Benin
Over the course of the programme, participants gradually acquire essential reading, writing and numeracy skills. They learn to carry out everyday tasks such as writing their names, reading documents and performing basic calculations, gradually regaining a level of independence that many had never experienced before.
For many, this is about much more than learning letters and numbers.
It is about rebuilding self-confidence.
Reclaiming their place.
Preparing for life after detention.
At the end of the first cycle, participants are assessed, and those who meet the required standard receive a certificate. Some will then go on to complete a second cycle and become literacy instructors themselves, passing on what they have learned to others.
Learning. Having that learning recognized. Then, perhaps, passing it on.
Behind prison walls, literacy does more than prepare people for an exam. It opens pathways to rehabilitation and strengthens opportunities for social and economic reintegration.
It can become the first chapter of a new life.
Central African Republic: One school, two generations
In Boeing, a neighbourhood of Bangui, the end of the school day does not mean learning comes to an end.
Every evening, literacy classes help adults gradually build essential reading, writing and numeracy skills. By using the classrooms after the school day ends, the centre gives adults who never had the opportunity to attend school a second chance to learn without disrupting their daily responsibilities.
The same classrooms welcome two generations at different times of the day.
In Central African Republic, literacy classes offer a second chance to adults who never had the opportunity to attend school.
Photo: UNDP Central African Republic
Opened in February 2025 by the Ministry of National Education and UNDP, the Boeing Literacy Centre is helping hundreds of people acquire essential skills and unlock new opportunities.
Behind its doors, the need is immense.
Central African Republic has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world. The percentage of people who can read and write has declined in recent years, due to conflict, poverty and limited access to education.
That is why learning does not stop in Boeing.
Similar centres have also been established in Mbaïki, Bossangoa and Mboko through UNDP's Stabilization Programme, with financial support from the Government of Japan.
The Boeing Literacy Centre is helping hundreds of people acquire essential skills and unlock new opportunities.
Photo: UNDP Central African Republic
In a country battered by years of crisis, these classrooms are becoming places where people of all ages can learn and where education is helping communities build a more resilient future.
At the inauguration of the centre, Mactar Fall, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, summed up the ambition behind the initiative:
“Literacy is far more than learning to read and write. It is a step towards freedom, empowerment and dignity.”
In Boeing, when one school day ends, another begins.
Learning never stops: In the evenings, adults fill the classrooms used by children during the day.
Photo: UNDP Central African Republic
What comes after the first words
In Minova, Bora is learning to understand the numbers behind her business.
In Benin's prisons, inmates are gaining the skills they need to strengthen their prospects for reintegration.
In Bangui, adults take the place of children in classrooms each evening.
Three different stories.
One shared message.
Literacy does not end with learning the first word.
It can become a better-managed business.
A document signed with confidence.
A skill that can be passed on.
Or the beginning of new opportunities.
Sixty years after International Literacy Day was first proclaimed, 739 million adults still lack basic literacy skills.
Behind this enormous figure, change is happening one person, one classroom, one word at a time.
With every new word comes a new possibility: to manage a business, prepare for life after prison, help a child with homework, or simply write one's own name for the very first time.
Because learning to read and write is not the end of the story.
More often than not, it is where the story begins.
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