All children, girls and boys alike, all adolescents, all young people, all those with special needs should have an equal chance to go to school.

In order to ensure stable societies, we need to counter the traumatising and destructive experiences that war-affected young people have undergone. It is important that conditions are created that assist in producing positive and productive roles for young people in developing countries. An important way to avoid future conflict is through realising and encouraging the dynamism and capacities of young people as the leaders of tomorrow’s societies. Young people who are not given the opportunity to integrate into community and social structures are less able to acquire the skills they need for peaceful and constructive adult lives.

Giving aid to alleviate poverty and post-emergencies can create dependence, an obstacle for socio-economic growth. Giving education is providing a solution for a lifetime. Education provides protection, keeping vulnerable young people out of harm’s way. School offers a sense of normalcy for refugees and displaced young people, and provides a secure environment in which they can overcome their past and present traumas.

In situations of displacement, we believe in addressing the root causes of problems and in finding solutions that are sustainable and involve local capacity building, thus empowering the communities, and those we help directly, to actively participate in decision-making.

We believe in a community-based approach that engages parents, teachers and the community in the decisions associated with the education of their young people. RET’s choices of programmes, approaches to education, and implementing partners contribute to durable solutions, sustainable development, voluntary repatriation, reconstruction, and sustainable peace and stability in the affected regions and in the world. We do not believe in perpetuating dependencies.