8 September is International Literacy Day. Around the world, agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network work with children and adults to enhance literacy. From providing school books to running educational programmes, from teaching grandparents to read to their grandchildren to teaching young boys and girls to read to their younger siblings, we recognise that reading from an early age is an important foundation for a student’s progress through the formal education process.

The Aga Khan Foundation, the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, the Aga Khan Education Services, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the Aga Khan Academies and the Aga Khan University’s Institute for Educational Development are among the agencies of the AKDN that help improve literacy across the developing world. Together, we are supporting thousands of children to learn to read, thus improving their quality of life.