Special Rapporteurs

(c)Gideon Mendel/ Corbis/ ActionAid

The 2010 report will be on asylum seekers, refugees and migrants, and the Special Rapportuer NEEDS YOUR HELP to make this report as comprehensive and good as possible. We therefore encourage you to visit this page and support him in his work.

The 2009 report  RTE of persons in detention

The Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education is mandated to seek and receive information on violations against the Right to Education and their causes and consequences. Such information may come from Governments, treaty bodies, specialized agencies, other Special Rapporteurs responsible for various human rights questions, and from intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. The Rapporteur also has the possibility to respond directly to such information, engaging in a dialogue with the different parties. This is especially pertinent, as it allows the Special Rapporteur to get a more diversified view. Civil society must therefore play an active role in supporting and informing the Special Rapporteur.

Special Rapporteurs write both country specific reports and thematic reports. Regarding the latter, the current Special Raporteur on the Right to Education has written on girls/gender (2006); on disability (2007); on emergencies (2008); on prisoners (2009) and his forthcoming report will be on Right to Education for migrants and refugees (2010). It is of course also interesting to look at the reports of other mandate holders (either thematic or country specific), or to petition their attention regarding specific human rights violations that have an influence on the enjoyment of the right to education.

The Special Rapporteur draws attention to aggravating factors and highlights the key role of human rights education and its concrete implementation at the classroom level to combat for example gender discrimination and stereotyping. Reports provide a set of recommendations based on the four elements identified as components of the right to education, namely, availability, accessibility, acceptability and adaptability.

"Special Rapporteur", "Special Representative of the Secretary-General", "Representative of the Secretary-General" or "Independent Expert” all serve in their personal capacity and do not receive salaries or any other financial compensation for their work. The independent status of the mandate-holders is crucial in order to be able to fulfill their functions in all impartiality. 

Amongst their activities, most Special Rapporteurs receive information on specific allegations of human rights violations and send urgent appeals or letters of allegation to governments asking for clarification. They also carry out country visits to investigate the situation of human rights at the national level. Mandate holders typically send a letter to the Government requesting to visit the country.

To find out more see the OHCHR site 

There have been two people in the position of special Rapporteur for the right to education:

Mr. Vernor MUÑOZ VILLALOBOS (Costa Rica), since 2004

Ms. Katarina TOMASEVSKI (Croatia), 1998-2004