Thank you, Mr. President, for introducing me. I'm proud to be here with you and Director General Matsurra and all of my fellow delegates. I appreciate this opportunity to share the United States vision for the future of UNESCO.

The breadth of our agenda speaks to the vital need for UNESCO's help worldwide. In the coming days, we will discuss topics from alleviating poverty, to fighting HIV and AIDS, to mother-to-child literacy, to learning from the Holocaust to help prevent future tragedies. In the United States, we believe that the path to achieving these noble goals begins with education and that education begins with literacy.

Evidence from around the globe proves that the benefits of advancing literacy are limitless. Higher literacy rates correlate with lower rates of HIV and AIDS, increased agricultural yields for farmers, and a more stable food supply for families and communities. As we consider this year's conference theme, "Planet Earth," I would submit that literate children will be better prepared to safeguard natural resources, and, ultimately, to develop new, renewable sources of energy.

These cascading benefits are all the more important in today's knowledge economy. To meet its rising demands, we must raise educational standards. And we must stop rationing opportunity by gender, race, religion, income level, or country of origin.

Around the globe, we have done a good job of educating children of privilege. Now we must begin the harder work of equipping poor and vulnerable children with the skills they need to succeed.

As you know, worldwide, approximately 77 million children do not attend school. More than 771 million adults cannot read. Two-thirds of these adults are women, and 85 percent live in just 35 countries.

The United States strongly supports UNESCO's goal of ensuring every child has access to a quality education by 2015. We have also made a similar commitment in our own country: to provide every child with grade-level or better skills in reading and math by 2014.

These goals are historic and revolutionary. To achieve them, we must confront long-held assumptions about the ability of underprivileged children to perform as well as their peers. We must challenge longstanding habits in our education systems—including the ways in which we allocate resources like time, funding, and personnel. And we must hold ourselves accountable for supporting programs that have been proven to produce results.

None of us has all the answers. But in the United States, we have seen significant improvements in recent years—especially for low-income and minority children who had often been neglected in the past, much like those whom UNESCO works to serve.

In 2001, we passed the No Child Left Behind law to introduce accountability, transparency, and data-driven management into our nation's schools. Throughout this process, we have benefited greatly from the business community's insights. With their help, we have begun to align our educational goals with employers' needs, measure student progress toward those goals and hold ourselves accountable for reaching them.

I'm proud to say that this approach is working. While we still have much to do, our latest education report card shows that students are reaching all-time highs in reading and math. And achievement gaps between poor and minority students and their peers are narrowing.

The United States remains committed to helping UNESCO achieve similar progress. Through UNESCO's Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Program, we are helping other countries determine which of their citizens are unable to read, identify what aspects of reading are difficult for them and judge the effectiveness of programs seeking to help.

I encourage UNESCO members to join us not only in supporting this program, but embracing its underlying principles of measurement and accountability. If we do not, our efforts will fall far short of fulfilling our promises.

That is why I'm so pleased that as Honorary Ambassador for the United Nations Literacy Decade, America's First Lady, Laura Bush, continues to highlight successful literacy programs.

For example, last year, Mrs. Bush hosted the first White House Conference on Global Literacy, which brought together first ladies, education ministers, and national decision-makers representing 75 countries, including many of yours. I commend UNESCO for continuing this important work by organizing a series of regional conferences, which are already yielding action and results.

• At the regional literacy conference in Qatar, Her Highness Sheikha Mozah launched three new literacy partnerships with Mauritania, Mali, and Sudan.
• In Beijing, Madame Chen gathered experts on the role of literacy in rural development.
• And in Bamako, President and First Lady Toure convened 27 education ministers and 11 first ladies to combat illiteracy in Africa.

I know all of these pioneering leaders would agree that to reach the goals of Education for All, we must begin by focusing on the areas of greatest need. Today, the greatest need lies in Africa, where on average, fewer than 6 out of 10 adults can read or write and where an additional 4 million teachers will be needed by 2015.

To help more African children receive a quality education, President Bush launched a 600 million dollar African Education Initiative in 2002. By the end of this decade, this initiative will provide scholarships for 550,000 children and train more than 900,000 teachers. To help train additional teachers, the United States has joined the African Group in sponsoring a resolution to improve UNESCO's Teacher Training Initiative in sub-Saharan Africa.

All of these initiatives have the potential to improve the quality of life for generations to come. But to achieve that potential, we must leverage every available resource to maximize efficiency and results.

As I mentioned earlier, in my country, the private sector and other non-governmental partners have helped us harness the power of technology and innovation for the good of all. Just yesterday, we unveiled a prototype for the World Digital Library, which was created by an international team of librarians, academics, and business leaders, led by the United States Library of Congress. When fully developed, the Library will present primary materials from all of the world's cultures, free of charge on the Internet in many different languages.

I find it hard to imagine a better symbol of the opportunities that education offers. Together, starting with literacy, we can ensure that people worldwide are prepared to seize these opportunities and create a brighter future for themselves and their children.

Thank you.

####