19^th of July 2021

Nelson Mandela International Day is a call to action to making the world a better place. It was established in November 2009 by the UN General Assembly to recognise the iconic leader and his contributions to pursuing freedom, justice and peace. He is noted for many achievements that include being a human rights lawyer, freedom fighter, international peacemaker and first democratically elected president of a free South Africa.

At READ Foundation – education is at the heart of everything we do and Nelson Mandela’s inspirational message of empowerment through learning and action resonates with our work. The importance of education is now perhaps more important than ever as hundreds of millions of children around the world are out of school and lack basic reading, writing and numeracy skills.

Our schools and learning facilities provide high quality education to the some of the world’s most vulnerable children in refugee camps and impoverished communities. We continue to promote learning for vulnerable and disadvantaged children in Yemen, Lebanon, Turkey, Bangladesh and have built over 390 schools in Pakistan and Kashmir and to date have educated 59,855 students.

The fight against poverty continues. Nelson Mandela believed “One hand can feed the other” and said:

“Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.”

Help READ Foundation to continue fighting poverty by providing education, inspiring and supporting a future generation of leaders who can rebuild their countries and a better world.