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There are nearly one billion adults who cannot read and write, according to UNESCO statistics. The real figure is probably nearer to two billion and still more if numeracy and the actual use of these skills are taken into account. Most of these are people living in extreme poverty. Almost two thirds are women, and nearly 1 in 5 is a young person between 15 and 24. The Global Campaign for Education believes that there are five compelling practical reasons for governments and donors to invest now in adult literacy: Literacy is vital to reducing gender inequality; Adult literacy is critical for the healthy development and education of children, especially girls; Literacy is vital to human and economic development; Literacy is vital for fighting AIDS; and Adult literacy programmes work. This study is the largest-ever attempt to systematise experience of what works in adult literacy. 67 successful literacy programmes in 35 countries were analyzed in order to see whether they shared any common features that could be simplified into concrete, hands-on benchmarks or guidelines for policy-makers. There was remarkable consensus among the practitioners surveyed as to the basic ingredients for success. Benchmarks have been developed by experts in adult literacy from around the world and are based on responses to a global survey of effective adult literacy programmes, they cover the areas of: 1. Defining literacy; 2. Continuity of learning; 3. Governing literacy; 4. Evaluating literacy programmes; 5. Facilitator pay; 6. Facilitator recruitment and development; 7. Ratios and timing; 8. Multilingual contexts; 9. Participatory methods; 10. The literate environment; 11. Costs per learner; and 12. Financing literacy.