The Community’s commitment around the world, from the Schools of Peace to the BRAVO (Birth Registration for All versus Oblivion) programme
“Urgent action must be taken to safeguard the future of millions of children, especially in Africa and in refugee camps”.
On the International Literacy Day, celebrated worldwide tomorrow, September 8th, the Community of Sant’Egidio appeals to Governments, international organizations and societies not to forget the 800,000 people, mostly women and children, who are still denied the fundamental right to education.
The situation is especially critical in Africa and in refugee camps, where greater investment is required. As UNESCO has pointed out in this year’s note for the Literacy Day, the defence of peace is intimately connected to literacy, as well as to the development of nations.
The Community of Sant’Egidio has been pursuing this battle worldwide. It will increase its efforts through the BRAVO! Programme for birth registration in Africa, which is crucial to ensure the right to education, through the Schools of Peace for children from fragile social environments (where kids learn at the same time how to read and how to live together in peace), and through the recently opened schools in Rohingya’s refugee camps in Uganda, Congo and Bangladesh. We have to start again from literacy, also and especially to offer a better future to all those children who have never been at school and who, in many cases, are at risk of becoming child soldiers
