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Changing who gets heard: BASAbali Wiki on women, literacy, and civic power
BASAbali was awarded the 2019 UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy for its BASAbali Wiki programme, including a multimedia, multilingual (Balinese, Indonesian and English) wiki dictionary, encyclopedia, and virtual library. Its aim is to revitalize endangered languages by fostering a strong sense of community ownership.
Since receiving the award, BASAbali has focused on engaging young people, particularly young women, in civic participation. Through local-language platforms, workshops in communication, data analysis, advocacy, and leadership, young participants build confidence, critical thinking, and public-speaking skills, and are encouraged to engage actively in policy research and civic action.
The programme addresses overlapping barriers: patriarchal norms, formal government language, limited civic use of technology, and stereotypes discouraging participation. This has led to concrete outcomes such as mental health programmes in South Sulawesi schools, plastic waste reduction in Bali, sexual harassment prevention training in West Nusa Tenggara, and environmental policy changes in South Kalimantan.
On International Women’s Day, BASAbali encourages communities to ensure that women and girls are not only heard but empowered to lead change.
The barriers are real. But so is the power to change the systems that built them, especially when young women have the skills, the platforms, the language, and the community to do it together. When you change the language of participation, you change who gets heard.
Morocco’s Second Chance Schools fight girls’ dropout and gender inequality
The Second Chance School and Inclusive Education programme, led by the Directorate of the Second Chance School and Inclusive Education, in Morocco, was awarded the 2025 UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy for its work in preventing school dropout and reintegrating vulnerable youth through targeted literacy initiatives.
Since receiving the award, the programme has expanded access by creating and rehabilitating Second Chance School centres. These centres focus on reaching girls at risk of leaving school, offering remedial education, functional literacy, vocational training, and life-skills to support their social and professional integration.
The programme actively promotes the rights of women and girls by addressing dropout, preventing violence, and creating safe, inclusive learning spaces. Through partnerships with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Family, and the National Union of Moroccan Women, it provides psychosocial support and family mediation. These interventions are critical in keeping girls in school, preventing child marriage, and empowering them to express themselves.
On International Women’s Day 2026, the programme honours the strength, courage and resilience of girls and women who overcome obstacles to access education. It calls for collective action to build a more inclusive and equitable society, where every girl can learn, express herself freely, and reach her full potential.
Floating Schools bring education to girls in flood-prone regions
The Solar-powered Floating Schools programme of the non-governmental organization Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha was awarded the 2025 UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy for its innovative approach to delivering education in flood-prone regions in Bangladesh.
Since receiving the award, the programme has strengthened community confidence in girls’ education and drawn national attention. Celebrations around the floating schools involved more than 25,760 people, including learners, teachers, village leaders, and journalists, while media coverage spanned over 50 newspapers, TV channels, and digital portals.
The programme promotes girls’ and women’s rights by ensuring consistent access to education, fostering freedom of expression in reading circles, and providing floating libraries equipped with digital tools. These supervised spaces allow girls to engage safely with technology, while women educators serve as vital role models, reinforcing participation and leadership.
On International Women’s Day 2026, Mohammed Rezwan, Executive Director of the programme, calls for action: “Rights, justice, and action begin when we stop asking women and girls to adjust to barriers they were never meant to bear. To ensure equality, we must move education, information, and safe opportunities toward them—especially in climate-affected places where delays cost the most.”
READ MORE: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/how-literacy-can-become-powerful-pathway-gender-equality?hub=701
