Challenge

Literacy is a basic right that empowers individuals and benefits society. However, over 600 million children worldwide lack basic reading skills and do not have access to quality early grade reading resources in a language they use and understand.

The Global Book Alliance (GBA) is a partnership of donors, multilateral agencies, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working to increase the availability of high-quality reading resources in underserved languages by tackling the interconnected elements across the book supply chain. To support the GBA, USAID created the Global Book Alliance in Action (GBAIA) project, for which EDC is the implementing partner. An international initiative, GBAIA researches, analyzes, and offers solutions on how ministries of education, GBA partners, NGOs, publishers, printing houses, and other stakeholders can develop more efficient methods of supplying reading materials and textbooks.

Key Activities

Explore the Photobook

EDC is undertaking the following activities for GBAIA:

  • Conduct a book supply chain analysis (SCA) in each of eight diverse target countries to identify the problems these countries experience in supplying high-quality books to children in a timely manner
  • Build stakeholder capacity to implement steps toward improving book supply chain functions
  • Share research findings to improve the provision of books in target countries and elsewhere
  • Support the expansion of the Global Digital Library to provide access to free early-grade reading resources

Impact

  • Build capacity across eight countries in strengthening and improving the book supply chain

Learn More

The Global Book Alliance in Action
:
PROJECT DIRECTOR
DURATION
2019–2023
FUNDED BY
U.S. Agency for International Development
PARTNERS

ADEA, Global Partnership for Education, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, Save the Children, UK Department for International Development, UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank, World Vision