The Government approves an institutional declaration on the occasion of Children’s and Youth Book Day

This Tuesday, the Council of Ministers approved an institutional declaration on the occasion of the International Children’s and Youth Book Daywhich is celebrated every April 2, which vindicates the practice of reading among young people, underlining “the importance” of access to culture to promote “critical thinking and build democratic societies.”

The institutional declaration, signed by the Ministers of Youth and Children, Sira Rego; Culture, Ernest Urtasun, and Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, highlights that access to reading is a way of “protect emotional well-being” and to reinforce the right of young people to develop in environments that promote “their mental health and autonomy“.

“Promoting reading among children and youth is committed to a more critical, more egalitarian and democratic society.“. Likewise, the statement states that “reading is not isolating yourself from the world, but rather relating to it in a more conscious, deeper and freer way.”

On the other hand, the ministers also highlight the role of the little ones as creators of culture and in this line they ensure that “Recognizing them as active cultural subjects implies opening real spaces for their participation, listening to their voices and guaranteeing their right to express themselves.”

In this regard, Rego has celebrated the approval of this declaration, promoted by his department, and has assured that reading “is a right of children and youth for their development” and that it allows boys, girls and adolescents “expand your horizons of being, thinking and acting.”