To mark this year’s World Refugee Day, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and Entreculturas are launching “Education opens the world”, a campaign advocating for educational access for refugees and displaced people around the world, a fundamental right they are too often deprived of because of their displacement.

Today, more than 75 million displaced children and youth have had their education disrupted by emergencies and prolonged crises. Losing access to education leaves these young people more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, including gender-based violence, recruitment into armed groups, child labour, and forced marriage. Schools provide the stability that they need to heal from the loss, fear, stress, and violence experienced during times of crisis.

Education is critical for refugees in emergencies and for those who are relegated to living for decades in camps or informal settlements. Educational settings provide safe and transformative environments for refugee children and youth. Study can broaden their imagination and widen their sympathies, despite their straitened physical circumstances. Education opens up a world of possibilities, in which the young can dream and hope for a better future, and use their gifts and abilities to build that future for themselves and their communities.

Globally, less than 50% of all refugees have access to primary education. That number drops to 25% for secondary education, and to only 1% for higher education. JRS and Entreculturas seek to reshape this global reality. It is necessary to guarantee free, quality education to all children and young people who have been forced to leave their homes by conflict, persecution and other wounds - environmental disasters, the arms trade, developmental inequality – inflicted on our planet.

This campaign falls within the broader Global Education Initiative (GEI), a key component of the JRS response aimed at doubling the number of people served in our educational projects to more than 240,000 and raising $35 million by 2020.

For more information, please visit the campaign website (available only in Spanish).