SEVERAL days of discussion on the global policies of literacy during the International Seminar on Literacy and Post-literacy Policies and Programs that recently ended in Havana came to a categorical conclusion: we cannot stand idle while the number of illiterates on the planet continues to grow and governments decline to take appropriate measures.

The fundamental contradiction was over the UNESCO millennium goals in terms of education are not reachable and, even worse, the international agency "cannot do anything. It is the governments of the countries it represents that have to take the initiative to eliminate illiteracy," according to María Luisa Jáuregui, a specialist in illiteracy and youth and adult education at the UNESCO Latin America and the Caribbean Region Office.

In response to the overwhelming number of illiterates in the world, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan proclaimed 2003 -2012 the literacy decade, under the supervision of UNESCO, with the firm proposal of halving illiteracy indices by 2015.

However, according to UNESCO estimates, offered by Dr. Herman van Hoof, director of the Havana office, there will be around 765 million illiterates in 2015, a figure very close to the 771 million total in 2004. Of these, 63% will be women and the majority of them will be located in the Third World.

The governmental and educational authorities meeting in Havana agreed that the battle against illiteracy needs to be head-on, but not in the manner proposed by the international agencies, which would take so long to reduce the problem that the program would never be concluded. Instead it was proposed to apply specific programs to eradicate illiteracy as quickly as possible.

Fifteen countries throughout the world are using the Cuban literacy method "Yes, I Can Do It," which so far has taught some 2 million individuals to read and write. In countries such as Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia it is being used in several states and municipalities adapted to the multilingual conditions and special characteristics of the generally rural and indigenous communities covered.

"With the "Yes I Can Do It" method people can learn to read and write in only seven weeks. What is more, the program does not require teachers because it is video based, thus making it very economical. With less than one third of the budget needed by UNESCO – $160 per person – one can complete a satisfactory literacy process," affirmed Luis Ignacio Gómez, Cuban minister of education.

This method assumes the continuation of studies, which the UN agency views as one of its main drawbacks, added Gómez.

Despite Cuba’s efforts to help eradicate illiteracy, says Claudia Camba, president of the "A Better World Is Possible" Foundation, UNESCO does not recognize the "Yes I Can Do It" program as among the most effective methods of teaching reading and writing. "It is not even included in the list of worldwide existing programs."

"It is contradictory that UNESCO plans to reduce illiteracy in a period of time that we know it cannot meet, and at the same time it does not want to recognize the Cuban program that has already allowed a country like Venezuela to declare itself free of illiteracy," said Claudia Camba.

"In 1990 the Education For All meeting was held in Thailand. The 155 countries in attendance decided that all children should receive an elementary education and that illiteracy would be cut in half by 2000. In 2000 when they met again, there were 130 million children excluded from school systems and 880 million illiterates," she added.

Venezuela incorporated all its children into the education system and has more than 50% of the adult population studying, but this is not being talked about. "This is a political problem explained by the reactivation of the United States as a member of UNESCO, after clearing its debt, and the designation of Ms. Laura Bush, wife of the U.S. president, as the ambassador of the literacy decade."

"An international seminar on literacy in the United States sponsored, organized and chaired by the first lady is scheduled for September. The idea is to devise a global literacy plan to be financed by billions of dollars, under the hegemony of the United States, and obviously this is the reason that the "Yes I Can Do It" will not be one of the programs recommended by UNESCO."

The president of the A Better World Is Possible Foundation is also coordinator of the International Aid Front of the "Yes I Can Do It" program, which brings together all the countries where the Cuban method is being applied. The Front proposes that UNESCO recognize the program as the global method of the UN literacy decade since it is already economically accessible, didactically flexible, effective, simple, and with positive short term results.