Global Citizenship Education is vital in raising awareness and increasing understanding of how global issues affect our everyday lives. We make no apologies at SCIAF for the time, effort and resources that go into educating not only our young people in schools but the wider Catholic community too.

I think it is imperative that as individuals, and as a community, we are informed about global issues such as poverty, injustice, gender equality, climate change, human rights and more. We can’t afford to continue living in a world where people are ignorant and narrow-minded. It’s important to understand that Global Citizenship Education or Development Education is not about telling people the right answer, rather it is about promoting and facilitating critical thinking about some of the issues mentioned above. It should challenge global perceptions and lead us to take action for a fairer world.

I count it a privilege and also a huge responsibility, in my role as a Development Education Officer at SCIAF, to be part of delivering a significant part of SCIAF’s mandate - that of educating, not exclusively but particularly, the Catholic Community in areas of global justice and international development.

SCIAF’s support in this area takes different forms, from school workshops and lessons (sometimes led by our amazing volunteers) to the provision of resources that are linked to the Curriculum for Excellence and the Catholic RE curriculum, ‘This is our Faith’.

The beauty of development education and its promotion of justice is that it complements the Catholic Christian Faith and for thousands of people in Scotland, issues of climate justice, for example, is strengthened by ones faith.

My hope is that the work we do in schools to empower young people, and to raise awareness of global issues in their lives, will be long-lasting and impact their actions forever. Our vision is for a just and green world.

Mark Booker, SCIAF