SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, on Children’s Rights Day, Room to Read announced its partnership with IKEA and IKEA Foundation for Let’s Play for Change, the new IKEA good cause campaign which supports Room to Read as well as five other children’s rights organizations. Let’s Play for Change supports children’s rights to play and develop by donating € 1 from the IKEA Foundation for every children’s book and toy sold in IKEA stores from November 20 through December 24 to Room to Read as well as Handicap International Foundation, Save the Children, Special Olympics, UNICEF and War Child.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Children states that every child should have the right to play. However, millions of children are denied this opportunity according to a play insights document released by IKEA Foundation today. Teaching methods that emphasize rote learning leave little time for interactive or play-driven learning, where students use their creativity and imagination.
Room to Read’s Literacy Program creates safe, engaging and fun environments for children to learn and develop within government schools in low-income countries. Let’s Play for Change will allow Room to Read to impact approximately 93,000 children in Bangladesh and Indonesia by establishing vibrant libraries, training teachers in fun literacy instruction activities, and publishing hundreds of thousands of copies of original and engaging children’s book titles in local languages. More information on their Literacy Program can be found at https://www.roomtoread.org/literacy-girls-education/literacy.
“Through IKEA Foundation’s Let’s Play for Change campaign and the inspired action of IKEA customers around the world, Room to Read will bring the joy of reading and a love of learning to tens of thousands of children in government schools in Bangladesh and Indonesia,” said Erin Ganju, CEO and co-founder of Room to Read. “Our innovative, data-driven, and cost-effective Literacy Program will effect systemic change in hundreds of communities through the establishment of libraries, training of teachers, and the capacity development of local authors and illustrators to publish locally-relevant and engaging children’s books.”
About Room to Read
Founded in 2000 on the belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children®, Room to Read’s innovative model focuses on deep, systemic transformation within schools in low-income countries during two time periods which are most critical in a child’s schooling: early primary school for literacy acquisition and secondary school for girls’ education. We work in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children and ensure girls can complete secondary school with the skills necessary to negotiate key life decisions. Room to Read has benefited 10 million children across 18,000 communities in Asia and Africa and aims to reach 15 million children by 2020. Learn more at https://www.roomtoread.org.
