On September 7, “International Literacy Day”, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah will announce the award nominees for its grant competition focused on literacy called “All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development”.  USAID is hosting this event, in collaboration with the Global Partnership for Education, the Brookings Institution and Lions Clubs International, to highlight the vital role literacy plays in fostering development and growth.  Thirty-two innovators were selected from 450 applications for grant financing of activities to address illiteracy in more than 20 countries.  All grantees will showcase their innovations at a DevelopmentXChange.

Dr. Shah, Kent Hill and Chris Tinnings will announce the award nominees during their remarks at 9:15 a.m. The event will also feature education leaders, senior Obama Administration officials, and taped messages, including from former First Lady Laura Bush, discussing efforts to achieve quality literacy education for all.  From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., media is also invited to visit the exhibits in the Atrium Ballroom at the Ronald Reagan Building to meet, interview, and learn more about the 32 awarded innovators from around the world.  “All Children Reading” is a partnership effort by USAID, World Vision, and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) to catalyze cost-effective innovations to promote literacy among children in the primary grades in the developing world.

WHO:

Dr. Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator
Esther Brimmer, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs
Kent Hill, Senior Vice President for International Programs at World Vision
Chris Tinning, Minister Counselor for Australian Agency for International Development
Linda Madden, Lions Clubs International
Video messages will be provided by former First Lady Laura Bush, World Bank President Jim Kim and others.

WHEN:

Friday, September 7, 2012
8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. EST

WHERE:

Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center (use 13½ street entrance)
Amphitheater and Atrium Hall
1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20004

Media should RSVP with credentials to the USAID Press Office usaidpressofficers@usaid.gov. For more information, visit www.AllChildrenReading.org