EUROPE/SPAIN - Salesian missionaries demand the right to education: "Key to changing people's lives"

Madrid (Agenzia Fides) - "Access to education is the key to changing people's lives and transforming and developing societies," is the motto of the Salesian missionaries, who have always been at the forefront of education.

On the occasion of International Literacy Day, celebrated every year on September 8, alarming data have been revealed. More than 765 million people in the world cannot read and write, two thirds of them are women.

Thanks to the missionaries, more than 2.3 million children and young people receive an education in the missions and find protection and safety in one of the 4,800 facilities, sometimes in difficult situations, such as in armed conflicts or in refugee or displaced persons camps. "In these situations, education is even more important because it is the only way to prevent children from being ripped away from their childhood," the missionaries explain in a statement published on World Literacy Day.
Poverty, conflict and displacement are the causes that keep minors and young people away from school, while education is a fundamental tool for protecting children, especially in emergency situations. Schools are places where they receive education, food, medical or psychological care, a place where boys and girls can be, where they can live in peace and forget for a few hours the horror of war or violence.

According to Misiones Salesianas, 25% of the world's minors live in countries affected by some form of humanitarian crisis: Syria, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Haiti, Sudan and Palestine. The religious body that is committed to the promotion, protection, education and evangelization of the most vulnerable children and young people, calls for a real commitment to quality education for all boys, girls and young people in all circumstances.

Education is a right and empowers people. Literacy is the first step on the path of education and training that allows one to master life, to be critical and to be freer. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 12/9/2024)

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