The Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU) is a non-profit organization established in 1971 in line with UNESCO's basic principles through the cooperation of the private sector, mainly involving the publishing circles, and the Government of Japan led by the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO in order to contribute to mutual understanding and cultural cooperation in Asia and the Pacific.

ACCU's multi-faceted programme in the areas of cultural cooperation, educational cooperation and personal exchange derives from our broad definition of cultural promotion.

● Three programme areas of ACCU:

To promote respect for cultural diversity Photo copyright: "A Miao Woman - Just Married" ©Peng Xiang Zhong <China>		To work towards the achievement of Education for All (EFA) goals and contribute to the promotion of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Photo copyright: "All Ears for Learning" ©Mohammad Koucheckpur <Iran>		To provide chances for people to meet and learn from each other Photo copyright ©ACCU

Under the educational cooperation programmes, ACCU has promoted Education for All (EFA), specifically targeting adult literacy in the non-formal education sector. Our intention in pursuing this goal has been to create synergetic effects among the inter-linked activities of materials development, capacity building and networking in a systematic manner. Experiences gained through the implementation of community-based practices together with our local partners, have been accumulated and shared widely at the international level.

As a result of collaboration with a number of stakeholders, ACCU has developed hundreds of educational materials in the Asia-Pacific region by producing prototype versions in English language, which have subsequently been translated and/or adapted based on the local needs of respective countries. Know-how on developing these materials was compiled into a guidebook for reference. Moreover, developed materials and relevant information have been made available on-line through the creation of the Asia-Pacific Literacy Database.