UNESCO – Turkey

UNESCO has many conventions, two of which are particularly important as standard setters in the field of non-discrimination in education and on technical and vocational training (see below). Both of them suffer slightly from a comparatively low rate of ratification and neither of them have very impressive oversight mechanisms, with all reporting done in private, leaving little room for “naming and shaming”. This arguably makes them less useful as international legal instruments. However, they have both been important as normative texts, inspiring other conventions and bringing important issues to the fore.

Under the international system there are different UN specialised agencies charged with specific mandates. These are normative and standard setting organisations, with less focus on broad implementation on the ground. Their nature as member-driven organisations must be understood, as they can appear somewhat politicised, which may be detrimental to actual implementation but also leaves much space for civil society to exert its influence. UNESCO is the UN agency for education (amongst other themes).

For more information and the text of these 2 conventions, please visit UNESCO’s Office of Legal Affairs. Or visit the extensive pages on UNESCO’s standards and norms in education