According to UNESCO still today there are 61 million children in the world without schooling, of which 31 million are in sub-Saharan Africa. These children are violated their right to education, included in numerous international treaties.
Education is a powerful instrument to reduce poverty and inequality, however there are children deprived of educational opportunities. Entreculturas wants to give visibility to all these children and take advantage of the return to school to create awareness in society of this reality. They have just launched a campaign called “The Red Chair. A chair for 61 million children who cannot go to school ”, and All schools are being encouraged to place a red chair in each of their classrooms. This alert element of all those children who cannot go to school and who have violated their right to education.
UNESCO estimates at 16,000 million dollars annually, by 2015, the external financing needs to achieve the main objectives of the Education for All Initiative (EFA, Dakar 2000). But currently donor countries contribute $ 5.6 billion annually, they seem significant amounts (and they are), however in a few days of military spending in the world is widely exceeded, is it a matter of priorities?
The drastic reduction of Official Development Assistance (in Spain and other countries), has clear consequences in the lives of the most vulnerable people and groups: it translates into schools that will not be built, teachers that will not be trained or boys, and especially girls, who will not be able to access the school.
Entreculturas is placing Red chairs in several classrooms of Spanish schools as a way of raising awareness about the need to place 61 million children in one of the decisive places for their development.
Each red chair is a new opportunity to survive, to have a better future, despite situations of poverty, child labor, racial exclusion, conflict or displacement.
