On 3 June, the world celebrates World Bicycle Day. In French-speaking Switzerland, from Geneva to Neuchâtel, while we see our cycle paths developing more and more to meet the challenges of climate change and congestion relief, we often associate cycling with health, leisure or eco-mobility. And yet, on a global scale, the bicycle is much more than an ecological alternative: it is a powerful vehicle for social justice, a tool for political emancipation and, for millions of children, the missing link to education.

Emancipation through movement: breaking down financial and gender barriers

In 1896, the American suffragette Susan B. Anthony declared that the bicycle had «done more for the emancipation of women than anything else in the world». By enabling women to travel independently, it challenged the social and dress norms of the time. Even today, in many parts of the world, the bicycle remains a major means of breaking away from isolation and dependence.

Travelling on foot limits opportunities, and relying on motorised transport imposes a financial cost that is often prohibitive for the less well-off. By offering free mobility once acquired, the bicycle breaks down these economic barriers. For a woman or a young girl, owning a bicycle means taking an active role in public space. It means deciding your own route, controlling your own time and freeing yourself from the geographical constraints that all too often confine you to the confines of your own home. This physical effort shared with the machine generates an awareness of one's own strength and a psychological autonomy that is essential to emancipation.

Children on bicycles in Vietnam. ©AE Vietnam, 2025

Distance, the main barrier to school access

At Action Education, our work in the field brings us face to face with a harsh reality every day: in isolated rural areas, distance and the state of the roads are the first enemies of learning. The distance from home to school and the lack of safety on the way there mean that some parents give up on sending their children to school. Providing children with a bicycle reassures parents and shortens the journey.

In the developing countries where we operate, a child sometimes has to walk for long hours, over difficult paths or roads, to reach the first school. Making this journey on foot, in sometimes very difficult weather conditions, exhausts the pupils before they even open a notebook.

This burden falls disproportionately on young girls. Long, isolated journeys expose them to increased risks of harassment or assault. Faced with insecurity, families often make the radical choice of taking their girls out of school, accelerating the drop-out rate and the risk of early marriage. As shown by several studies, In India, Malawi and Zimbabwe, bicycles help girls to get to school, and more importantly, to stay there.

Bicycles, an accelerator for education and a passport to independence

This is where the bicycle really comes into its own. For the same amount of energy, cycling is 2 to 3 times more efficient than walking and allows you to travel up to 4 times faster. Integrating mobility into our educational projects radically changes the situation for rural communities. The impact of providing bicycles is immediate:

• A threefold reduction in journey times Less physical fatigue means better attention and better results in class. By cycling, children can get to school without worrying about being late, and without having to miss their morning meal, which is essential for good learning: «In many cases, children skip breakfast in the hope of getting to school on time. So in the mornings, by using the bike, children can get to school without worrying about being late, and without missing out on a meal that is essential for good learning». Samphors Vorn, Director of Action Education in Cambodia
• Enhanced safety By travelling more quickly and often in groups, schoolchildren - and girls in particular - drastically reduce their vulnerability on the roads. As such, a vast study carried out in Zambia on 37,000 girls showed that a young girl given a bicycle reduced her risk of harassment on the way to school by 22 %.
• A massive drop in absenteeism Drop-out rates are plummeting, and the time saved on the journey is time saved for studying, helping the family or simply playing. Cycling reduces the risk of absenteeism by 33 % and offers 19 % more chance of not dropping out of school altogether.

Distribution of bicycles in Burkina Faso. Dramane Sessouma, November 2025

Action Education in the field: the example of Cambodia

In Cambodia, as in several other countries where Action Education is active, the provision of bicycles has become an essential tool for encouraging children to stay in school. In the country's rural areas, where road infrastructure is precarious and secondary schools are often a long way away, the bicycle is a tool for inclusion in its own right. By the end of 2025, a total of 22,666 bicycles were distributed to particularly vulnerable children, ensuring that geographical distance never becomes a barrier to the right to education.

Samphors Vorn emphasises the urgency of this action on the ground: «Many parents want to send their children to school, but poverty often forces them to choose between education and survival. Our role is to help remove these barriers.»

Bicycle distribution in Cambodia. AE Cambodia, March 2026

Let's get education rolling together

On this World Bicycle Day, as we pedal along our roads in French-speaking Switzerland, let's remember that this seemingly simple tool is a major key to international development and to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 for quality education. Enabling a child, and particularly a girl, to own a bicycle means opening the doors to school, equality and autonomy. Guaranteeing this fundamental right to education sometimes simply means providing two wheels, a frame and pedals.

So that distance is never again a barrier to knowledge, support Action Education's actions on the ground. Together, let's get education moving and advance equality.