Adventist and Development and Relief Agency joins the world to show support to the more than 66 million refugees around the world.
June 20 is World Refugee Day when the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) joins the United Nations and the world to remember the strength, courage and perseverance of millions of refugees, and show support for families forced to leave their homes due to persecution or conflict. ADRA remains committed to supporting and protecting refugees and other displaced children, women, and men, providing food, shelter, safe water, hygiene goods, psychosocial support and other services to thousands of refugees internally displaced and stateless persons in around 40 countries.
ADRA believes that
refugees have a right to live their lives free from the shame of ostracization
or dwell under the shackles of persecution and war. That’s why ADRA continues
doing what it does best-serving all who are in need.
In order to have a larger
impact, ADRA seeks to go beyond being just the hands and feet of Jesus, but be
a voice to those who have been displaced from their homes, overlooked,
dismissed, and even shunned.
Along with our 131
network offices and the Adventist Church, ADRA is focusing its efforts to raise
the importance of providing education for young people, particularly refugee
children and youth.
FOUR MILLION. That's the
number of refugee children and youth who are not attending school, according to
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Further, refugee children are FIVE
TIMES more likely to be out of school than non-refugee children.
The staggering numbers
are reasons enough that education for refugee and displaced children is of the
utmost importance that requires our undivided attention.
Attending school helps
refugee children integrate with their host community, giving them the
opportunity to learn the language, make new friends, and, in the future, attain
the qualifications and skills necessary to be self-sufficient, increase
confidence, self-worth and dignity, and contribute to their local community and
host country.
‘’This is why it is more
important than ever before that we set the example founded in Matthew 25 to
serve others regardless if those we serve are refugees, or have differences in
class status, gender, ethnicity, or disability. ADRA is taking a stand to be
Jesus’ voice for change so all may live as God intended,’’ ADRA said.
ADRA promises to speak up
on behalf of children who lack access to education, and will rally support for
displaced children and all children around the world to have access to
education and be given the means to be in school. ‘’The future generations of our world should never be denied an
opportunity to realize their potential, and strive for educational excellence’’.
Through education,
children and young people living in refuge can lift themselves out of a
continued cycle of poverty, live in a world where infancy death rates and
malnourishment would significantly be reduced, and countries free from conflict
would have established schools with trained teachers in a safe learning
environment. In fact, an educated population can have a significant impact
in reducing the risk of conflict, and contributes positively to a prosperous
society.