2026 UNESCO Literacy Prizes: Six Champions Turn Local Ideas Into Global Change

Nigeria’s Project PAL brings foundational education to out-of-school children living in conflict-affected parts of the Niger Delta.

Six literacy programmes from Colombia, Lebanon, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria and Thailand have received the 2026 UNESCO International Literacy Prizes, earning global recognition for helping people build reading, writing and communication skills in communities often excluded from traditional education. The awards were presented during the International Literacy Day celebration in Chiapas, Mexico, on 8 and 9 September, reflecting this year's theme, 'Literacy for people, the planet and prosperity,' and showing how learning can strengthen identity, opportunity, safety and community life.

Mother Languages Create More Inclusive Classrooms

Colombia's Escuelas LEO programme, run by BibloRed, creates intercultural and multilingual learning opportunities for Indigenous Peoples, Deaf communities, migrants, displaced residents and LGBTIQ+ groups in Bogotá. Participation increased from 320 learners in 2024 to 443 in 2025, with community-led lessons helping people protect their mother tongues, express their cultural identities and take a more active role in society.

The Netherlands-based Rutu Foundation was honoured for its Language Friendly School programme, which encourages schools to use children's home languages alongside the main language of instruction. Around 70 schools in 12 countries have joined the programme since 2019, reaching more than 32,000 students through teacher training, school certification and family engagement that make multilingual children feel recognised rather than pressured to leave their languages outside the classroom.

Nigeria's Project PAL brings foundational education to out-of-school children living in conflict-affected parts of the Niger Delta. Solar-powered Literacy Hubs offer safe spaces where children begin learning in Indigenous languages before moving towards English, and lessons are matched to each learner's current ability rather than age or school grade. The programme reached 8,500 children between 2023 and 2025, with 82% gaining functional literacy and many finding a pathway back into formal education.

Learning Opens Doors for Displaced Youth and Marginalised Adults

Lebanon's Alsama Project supports displaced young people in refugee camps and low-income communities who have missed years of schooling or never gained basic literacy skills. Its accelerated programme compresses 12 years of education into six, using an intensive curriculum that combines reading, numeracy, languages and practical life skills. More than 2,500 learners have taken part, gaining knowledge that can support further study, employment and fuller participation in community life.

Mexico's Chiapas Puede programme delivers bilingual and culturally grounded education across all 121 municipalities in Chiapas, concentrating on women, Indigenous Peoples and other historically underserved groups. More than 140,000 people are reached each year through community study circles, digital and face-to-face lessons, and teaching in Spanish and Indigenous languages. The state hopes to bring its illiteracy rate down from 13.7% to 4%.

Thailand's Language for Life programme connects multilingual education with daily challenges in the disaster-prone city of Hat Yai. Residents learn English, Malay and Chinese through activities linked to emergency communication, environmental awareness and local economic life, giving them practical skills that support personal confidence, social inclusion and community resilience.

Global Literacy Gaps Still Affect Millions

Each winning programme will receive US$30,000, a medal and a diploma under either the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize or the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy. The recognition comes as International Literacy Day marks its 60th anniversary and UNESCO's awards approach six decades of celebrating people and institutions that make education more accessible.

The global need remains enormous: 739 million young people and adults lack basic literacy skills, and women account for 63% of them. More than three-quarters live in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, 273 million children and young people are out of school, and four in ten students leave primary education without minimum reading proficiency. UNESCO reached more than 460,000 learners and beneficiaries during 2024 and 2025, supporting 43 countries as they strengthened literacy policies, educator skills, digital learning and access to reliable information.