We are delighted to announce that the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) won one of the six UNESCO International Literacy Prizes 2025 for our elearning website, Learn with NALA, on Monday 8 September at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris!

We received one of the three UNESCO Confucius Prizes for Literacy at the ceremony, which recognises the NALA as a global example of best practice in literacy and celebrates the decades of dedication of our team, learners and partners in empowering learners and promoting literacy for all.

The UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy gives special consideration to functional literacy, leveraging technological environments, in support of adults in rural areas and out-of-school youth.

Announcing the award winners, Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO, said:

The Confucius prize rewards innovative literacy programs, with particular focus on those that harness technology to strengthen functional literacy among adults in rural areas, as well as young people who are out of school.

The award ceremony was held as part of UNESCO’s Global celebration of International Literacy Day 2025 conference in Paris on 8 September 2025. Elaine Cohalan, Innovation Manager at NALA, attended the conference and accepted the award on NALA’s behalf.

NALA would like to thank

• the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO
• the sponsors of the prize – the Government of the People’s Republic of China
• NALA’s primary funders, Government of Ireland through the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research Innovation and Science and SOLAS
• NALA’s members, Board and Subcommittees
• NALA staff
• NALA partners and stakeholders with a special thanks to the adult literacy learners who NALA has the privilege of working with on a daily basis.

For more information about the award and to find out about other award winners on the day, you can visit the UNESCO website UNESCO Literacy Prizes 2025 spotlight literacy in the digital era and watch a video on our social media capturing the ceremony and award winners. You can also find further information on the winners in this UNESCO leaflet.

Elaine also participated in a panel discussion at the conference, on Enhancing lifelong learning ecosystems. The session explored the future of literacy in a world where digital technologies are increasingly becoming part of life and impacting well-being. Elaine shared the experience and impact of Learn with NALA during the discussion. Elaine joined a panel of experts, including:

• Mr Driss El Jouni, Head of Programme Management Division, Directorate of the Second Chance School and Inclusive Education, Ministry of National Education, Preschool, and Sports, Morocco
• Mr Aliou Fall, Director of Literacy and National Languages, Ministry of National Education, Senegal; and
• Ms Irene Kaggwa, Programme Manager for our Giga initiative, International Telecommunication Union.

For more information see conference programme and speaker biographies.