State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Literacy

  • Reading Program Improves Child Literacy Rates in Indian District

    Reading Program Improves Child Literacy Rates in Indian District

    After initial success, a pilot program from Columbia’s Center for Sustainable Development is scaling up to reach 2,000 more children in 70 schools.

  • Making Connections and Celebrating Literacy, City to City

    Making Connections and Celebrating Literacy, City to City

    Across sub-Saharan Africa, where MCI is working to help selected secondary cities attain the Millennium Development Goals, more than 150 million adults, or 38% of the adult population, lack basic literacy skills. Fortunately, a number of organizations are working hard to change this. LitWorld, a NY-based NGO dedicated to improving global literacy and a long-time…

  • “Standing Up for Girls” – and their Right to the Education they Deserve

    “Standing Up for Girls” – and their Right to the Education they Deserve

    For many in the developing world, education isn’t taken for granted. Around 35 million girls are out of school, the World Bank says, almost half of them in sub-Saharan Africa. In support of girls’ education, MCI joined the literacy organization LitWorld and other partners, including Connect To Learn, Asia Initiatives and the Children of Kibera…

  • Where Poverty is Extreme, but Where Girls’ Clubs Have Taught Participants the World Has Possibility

    Where Poverty is Extreme, but Where Girls’ Clubs Have Taught Participants the World Has Possibility

    The following is a guest blog, authored by Pam Allyn, Executive Director and Founder of LitWorld, a global organization advocating for children’s rights as readers, writers and learners, and an MCI partner. This account is based on Pam’s travels to the Millennium City of Kisumu, Kenya, to spend time with four Girls’ Clubs, which foster…

  • Empowering Girls through Literacy: Kisumu Girls’ Club Leader Honored at LitWorld Gala

    Empowering Girls through Literacy: Kisumu Girls’ Club Leader Honored at LitWorld Gala

    In Kenya, as in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, girls have lower primary and secondary school completion rates than boys. Yet learning can empower girls, providing them with critical skills that enable them to become higher wage earners and community leaders. Ms. Lois Owiti, a teacher at Kisumu Day Senior High School in Kisumu, Kenya,…

  • Millennium City and U.S. Students Chat and Read Aloud Online, Celebrating World Read Aloud Day

    Millennium City and U.S. Students Chat and Read Aloud Online, Celebrating World Read Aloud Day

    Words – and worlds – were shared in celebration of the second annual World Read Aloud Day, organized by LitWorld, on March 9, 2011. As part of LitWorld’s much larger celebration of reading, literacy and learning, students from across the Millennium Cities connected with students in the United States via Skype, to share stories and…

  • Global Linkages, Global Literacy: MCI Celebrates World Read Aloud Day through School-to-School Partnerships

    What happens when students around the world are connected via modern technologies to share their experiences and perspectives? The Millennium Cities Initiative is determined to find out through its exciting School-to-School partnership program, which brings together schools from the United States with schools in the Millennium Cities – underserved urban areas of sub-Saharan Africa. While…

  • Reading Program Improves Child Literacy Rates in Indian District

    Reading Program Improves Child Literacy Rates in Indian District

    After initial success, a pilot program from Columbia’s Center for Sustainable Development is scaling up to reach 2,000 more children in 70 schools.

  • Making Connections and Celebrating Literacy, City to City

    Making Connections and Celebrating Literacy, City to City

    Across sub-Saharan Africa, where MCI is working to help selected secondary cities attain the Millennium Development Goals, more than 150 million adults, or 38% of the adult population, lack basic literacy skills. Fortunately, a number of organizations are working hard to change this. LitWorld, a NY-based NGO dedicated to improving global literacy and a long-time…

  • “Standing Up for Girls” – and their Right to the Education they Deserve

    “Standing Up for Girls” – and their Right to the Education they Deserve

    For many in the developing world, education isn’t taken for granted. Around 35 million girls are out of school, the World Bank says, almost half of them in sub-Saharan Africa. In support of girls’ education, MCI joined the literacy organization LitWorld and other partners, including Connect To Learn, Asia Initiatives and the Children of Kibera…

  • Where Poverty is Extreme, but Where Girls’ Clubs Have Taught Participants the World Has Possibility

    Where Poverty is Extreme, but Where Girls’ Clubs Have Taught Participants the World Has Possibility

    The following is a guest blog, authored by Pam Allyn, Executive Director and Founder of LitWorld, a global organization advocating for children’s rights as readers, writers and learners, and an MCI partner. This account is based on Pam’s travels to the Millennium City of Kisumu, Kenya, to spend time with four Girls’ Clubs, which foster…

  • Empowering Girls through Literacy: Kisumu Girls’ Club Leader Honored at LitWorld Gala

    Empowering Girls through Literacy: Kisumu Girls’ Club Leader Honored at LitWorld Gala

    In Kenya, as in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, girls have lower primary and secondary school completion rates than boys. Yet learning can empower girls, providing them with critical skills that enable them to become higher wage earners and community leaders. Ms. Lois Owiti, a teacher at Kisumu Day Senior High School in Kisumu, Kenya,…

  • Millennium City and U.S. Students Chat and Read Aloud Online, Celebrating World Read Aloud Day

    Millennium City and U.S. Students Chat and Read Aloud Online, Celebrating World Read Aloud Day

    Words – and worlds – were shared in celebration of the second annual World Read Aloud Day, organized by LitWorld, on March 9, 2011. As part of LitWorld’s much larger celebration of reading, literacy and learning, students from across the Millennium Cities connected with students in the United States via Skype, to share stories and…

  • Global Linkages, Global Literacy: MCI Celebrates World Read Aloud Day through School-to-School Partnerships

    What happens when students around the world are connected via modern technologies to share their experiences and perspectives? The Millennium Cities Initiative is determined to find out through its exciting School-to-School partnership program, which brings together schools from the United States with schools in the Millennium Cities – underserved urban areas of sub-Saharan Africa. While…