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First Lady Laura Bush Addresses UNESCO Literacy Conference in New Delhi, India
November, 2007


A delegation of representatives from the U.S. Department of State, USAID, and the U.S. Department of Education traveled to New Delhi, India for the UNESCO Regional Literacy Conference held from November 29 to 30, 2007. The delegation joined representatives from throughout the Indian Sub Continent, South and South West Asia as well as senior representatives of UNESCO and other international and regional organizations at the conference, entitled "Addressing Literacy Challenges in South, South-West and Central Asia: Building Partnerships and Promoting Innovative Approaches". The conference was hosted by the Government of India in conjunction with UNESCO and opened by Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi.

The delegation included U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO Louise Oliver, USAID Director of Education Joe Carney, Thomas Corts, the Coordinator of the President's International Educational Initiative and Sally Lovejoy, the Education Attaché at the U.S. Mission to UNESCO. First Lady Laura Bush addressed the conference by means of a video-taped speech to participants at the conference's opening ceremony. (You can see the delivery of this speech on the above link.)

The New Delhi Regional Literacy Conference is the fourth in a series of regional conferences sponsored by UNESCO to build on the work of the White House Conference on Global Literacy. The First Lady's White House Conference on Global Literacy was held in New York on September 18, 2006 and was organized jointly by the U.S. Department of State, USAID, and the U.S. Department of Education.

Within the framework of the U.N. Literacy Decade and UNESCO's Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE), the regional conferences address literacy challenges specific to various regions. Organizers gather regional experiences, disseminate effective practices, create cooperation among stakeholders, mobilize partners and resources, and promote literacy. A total of six regional literacy conferences will be held around the world.

 
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