The Aboriginal Literacy Foundation was well represented at the World Literacy Summit in Oxford, England held on the 26th to the 29th of March. As well as papers given to the conference on Aboriginal education, the Chair of the World Literacy Council was the ALF CEO, Tony Cree.

An important part of the Opening Ceremony is the presentation of the World Literacy Council Awards by Her Royal Highness, Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands, who is Chair of the European Union Literacy Council. The awards were presented jointly by Tony Cree and Princess Laurentien.

In 2018, the World Literacy Council Awards were for:

A significant contribution by a country to literacy
A significant contribution to literacy by an individual
A significant contribution to literacy by a Charity or an NGO
The Schweitzer Medal and Lectureship (which is presented jointly)

The Summit was an exciting place to be for literacy supporters and change makers worldwide. More than 250 Literacy Organisations are represented and over 90 papers were delivered by experts to the 300 delegates in attendance, including 50 ambassadors and high commissioners.
By the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation being present, we can raise awareness of Aboriginal literacy issues beyond the borders of Australia and also put forward our own take on issues that arise. It should be mentioned that we have received some wonderful donations from overseas supporters in recent years, and this has only been made possible by our attendance at conferences such as this.

It is interesting that the opening ceremony took place in the 17th Century Sheldonian Theatre, which was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and important discussions took place in the 15th century Oxford Divinity School. 600 years ago, only about 10% of the population of Britain could read and write, when this building was constructed. 600 years later, it is still being used for worthy academic pursuits such as the World Literacy Summit.

Aboriginal Literacy Foundation presence at CHOGM

The Aboriginal Literacy Foundation Northern Books and Library Project was mentioned at CHOGM and identified as a successful example of this type support for remote Aboriginal schools. We are very fortunate to have so many supporters to enable us to make this program such a success. Over the next 12 months we are going to repeat the process with our 2nd phase of the Project which will focus on Northern Queensland.