Nal’ibali honoured by US Library of Congress
The local literacy campaign was singled out as the only African-based organisation to be honoured at these awards for its efforts to improve reading levels in South Africa. The Literacy Awards, originated by David M Rubenstein in 2013, honours organisations doing exemplary, innovative and replicable work in the literacy arena. They spotlight the need for communities worldwide to unite in working for universal literacy.
Nal’ibali received sterling recommendations from the DG Murray Trust and USAID, who supported Nal’ibali in their quest to earn this award. Dr David Harrison, CEO of the trust, reiterated his confidence in Nal’ibali’s vision of promoting literacy development through a culturally relevant, aspirational and effective campaign.
“Nal’ibali’s core aim is to spark and embed a culture of reading for enjoyment across South Africa, making reading, writing and sharing stories — in all South African languages — part of everyday life. The 2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study revealed that eight of 10 nine-year-olds in South Africa are unable to read for meaning in any language,” said Harrison.
To date, Nal’ibali has distributed over 30-million newspaper reading supplements, circulated almost 500,000 books, trained over 13,000 people to spark the joy of reading and reached millions of children through its World Read Aloud Day campaigns.
For more info about Nal’ibali, or to access children’s stories in a range of South African languages, visit www.nalibali.org. Visit https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/books