During her mission to Latin America and the Caribbean region, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Priority Africa and External Relations, Lidia Brito, paid an official visit to Mexico, during which she reaffirmed the Organization’s support for governments, the private sector and communities in addressing humanity’s common challenges, such as safeguarding learning and advancing technological and climate adaptation.
We are seeking concrete and tangible results that truly transform people’s lives in critical fields, both in Mexico and around the world today.
Lidia Brito, UNESCO ADG/PAX.
The right to learn
During her visit to Chiapas for the opening of the global conference marking the 60th anniversary of International Literacy Day, Lidia Brito was welcomed by the community of San Juan Chamula of the Bats’i winik’otik People (Tsotsil) and vested with the ceremonial black chuj, a traditional sheep’s wool garment reserved for community leaders and wises.
In an outstanding gesture, the emblematic Church of St. John the Baptist, which is fully managed by the local Indigenous population, opened its doors wide so that an offering of flowers was delivered together with the Governor of Chiapas, Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar.
Lidia Brito also visited the “Benito Juárez García” elementary school, accompanied by federal and local authorities and delegates from several countries, to learn about the methodology of Chiapas Puede, a state-government literacy programme that incorporates local knowledge, languages and cultures, and she spoke with women who benefit from the initiative.
Before thousands of people gathered in the main square of San Juan Chamula, the Assistant Director-General presented the 2026 UNESCO International Literacy Prizes, alongside Mexico’s Secretary of Public Education (SEP), Mario Delgado. Chiapas Puede was among the awardees and carries forward a Mexican educational legacy that has been foundational for UNESCO: participatory literacy, rooted in the field and in mother tongues.
