By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee 

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on Sept. 12 that the Directorate of Literacy and National Languages of Senegal, the Institute for Research, Education and Popular Promotion (INEPE) of Ecuador and the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) of Thailand were named laureates of the 2025 UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize at a ceremony held on September 8 (local time) at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris to celebrate International Literacy Day.

This year’s winners include the Directorate of Literacy and National Languages of Senegal, which was honored for its “Literacy Program for the Visually Impaired.”

The program has converted the native languages of Senegal into Braille—the tactile writing system invented in 1824 by Louis Braille of France that allows the visually impaired to read and write using their sense of touch—to enable visually impaired learners in the country to read and write in Braille, as well as to acquire numeracy and digital skills.

The Institute for Research, Education, and Popular Promotion (INEPE) of Ecuador was recognized for its “Literacy Program for the Promotion of Critical Awareness and Care for Life and the Earth,” which aims to foster participatory, intergenerational learning within local communities. The program enhances literacy and digital skills for children and adolescents while strengthening their digital literacy, critical thinking, environmental awareness, and cultural identity.

The National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) of Thailand has been awarded for its “Bridging Literacy Gap for Students with Disabilities Program.” By implementing a centralized digital platform, the program offers diverse media resources such as e-publications, language interpretation, captions, and audio descriptions to ensure students with disabilities are given equal opportunities to enhance their literacy.

The UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize was established in 1989 with the goal to eradicate illiteracy throughout the world. In 1990, MCST started to sponsor the initiative, in support of UNESCO’s efforts and in the spirit of King Sejong the Great, who created hangeul so that all people could easily learn and use a written language.

This year, each of the 2025 winners (organizations) were awarded a certificate, a silver medal, and a cash prize of USD 20,000. MCST has continued to expand its support for the prize, including increasing the number of awardees. Starting in 2026, the Ministry plans to raise the cash prize amount to USD 30,000 to further enhance the honor and prestige of the award.