(ANS - Valencia) - Around the world, 93 million children and young people have some form of disability, one of the major causes of marginalization and exclusion from education. For this reason, the Global Campaign for Education has this year adopted the slogan, "We also have ability. We have the right to an inclusive education."  The Salesian NGO Jóvenes y Desarrollo is involved in the campaign.

The aim of the initiative is to support the right of children who have special educational needs to receive a quality education without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunity, as expressed in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Jóvenes y Desarrollo has joined this initiative, contributing to the spread of the campaign in schools and actively participating in the Week of Global Action for Education. They took special action on 9 April at the Faculty of Philosophy and Educational Sciences of the University of Valencia. Several activities were organized for university students and high school students. There were various laboratories and a large "Snakes and Ladders" board where the contestants experienced the barriers that disabled people face in the exercise of their right to education, in particular those living in poor and marginalized areas.

The Valencian paralympic athlete David Casinos read some issues raised by students of the University, and expressed his support for the campaign, and posters from the Global Campaign for Education were erected. In particular they drew attention to this problem in poor countries. The posters said, "I have the right and the duty to demand equal opportunities for all."

The Salesian NGO joined in the campaign in order to raise awareness of education as a fundamental human right, to draw attention to the responsibility of the State and to contribute to the fight against poverty.

More information is available on the campaign website www.cme-espana.org.

Published 12/05/2014