The Global Red Chair Project: Collaboration for Global Citizenship

If you have visited or work at a Jesuit school, you may have seen in the halls or classrooms a painted red chair and asked yourself, “what does this mean?” This red chair, or “silla roja”, is part of an initiative that was launched over 5 years ago in Spain and has since become a global symbol for the right to education for schools that are connected to the Society of Jesus.
The “La Silla Roja” campaign was started in 2012 by Entreculturas-Fe y Alegría Spain, an organization of the Society of Jesus, to defend the right to quality, inclusive education for the millions of children and youth around the world who are still unable to attend school. Students, teachers and administrators are invited to paint a chair red and place it in a strategic location in order to raise awareness and use this symbol as a reference to discuss the importance of education and the opportunities it creates in their own lives as well as how a lack of education negatively affects the lives and futures of those who are unable to exercise this fundamental human right.
In Spain, each year, the campaign has focused on different themes related to the right to education including access, quality, inclusion and equity, as well as education as key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and to protecting the earth. This year’s campaign in Spain is focused on schools that are in danger due to the violence generated from the exploitation of natural resources.

 
Through the support of Entreculturas, the campaign also expanded to other countries including Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, Chad and the United States. For example, in Ecuador, under the slogan “the chair that transforms lives” street actions and class activities have been carried out with the support of Fe y Alegría and Jesuit Refugee Service Ecuador.