Historical Resolution #242
UN Access to Literacy Project
A resolution to promote funding and the development of education and the arts.
The United Nations,
Applauding its previous Resolution #79, "Reformed Literacy Initiative", for making literacy "the critical priority" for national educational systems,
Recognising that access to a wide range of suitable reading materials is central to the realization of that goal,
Considering that the relative cost of redistributing surplus reading materials compares favourably in economic and environmental terms with that of mass reprinting,
Pleased that the existence of the UNEAF precludes the necessity of creating additional bureaucracy for the administration of the Project:
1. Inaugurates the "UN Access to Literacy Project", to be run as a voluntary and not-for-profit initiative to include all member nations;
2. Invites all nations to collect surplus reading materials and make them available to the Project for redistribution to those in need;
3. Designates "surplus reading materials" as including donated, unwanted, used, second hand or remaindered books, magazines, journals and other written sources, including print rejects that are still usable but that cannot be sold;
4. Stipulates that materials may be used but must be of a reasonable quality, or capable of being returned to a reasonable quality at minimal cost, particularly with regard to their utility in literacy projects;
5. Grants nations reasonable discretion in organizing collection of the materials, including in the degree of centralisation: the collections could, for example, be organized within educational institutions, as part of waste collection, or through charity events;
6. Permits agencies and authorities involved in literacy programmes to petition the UNEAF for assistance in supplying a range of reading materials;
7. Authorises the UNEAF to:
- take inventory of collected materials;
- allocate the materials, and otherwise acquired through additional UNEAF initiatives, to petitioners;
- make contributors aware of particularly dire needs;
- grant small rewards to institutions that prove particularly responsive and helpful in collecting surplus reading materials;
- advise nations on strategies to improve their collections;
8. Declares that the UNEAF may make judgments on the reading materials, in consultation with petitioners for assistance, based on how appropriate and relevant they will prove, but that it will refrain from indulging in or abetting political censorship.
Passed: |
For: | 6,340 | 85.0% |
Against: | 1,117 | 15.0% |