On 27 June 2024, at the 56th session of the Human Rights Council, the Right to Education Initiative (RTE), co-organised, with the Global Advocacy Group on ECCE Rights, a side event on ‘Guiding Principles on Early Childhood Care and education (ECCE) Rights: A Way Towards Strengthening the International and National Normative Framework’. This event was co-sponsored by the Permanent Delegations of Portugal, the Dominican Republic, Luxembourg and Sierra Leone.
The aim was to present and discuss the initiative led by the Global Advocacy Group on ECCE Rights on the development of Guiding Principles on ECCE Rights, which collate and synthesise the rights and related States obligations regarding ECCE scattered across multiple human rights instruments, in order to guide the national implementation of ECCE and inform other initiatives aiming at strengthening international law.
The Global Advocacy Group on ECCE rights is an informal network of various stakeholders engaged in ECCE work from a human rights perspective. It includes UNESCO, the office of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, ECCE practitioners, civil society organisations - including RTE - and academics. Since 2021, they have been collectively reflecting and working towards strengthening normative frameworks on ECCE, which led to the development of these Guiding Principles as one avenue.
At this side event, representatives of the group shared the background, methodology, draft content as well as the next steps and sought the inputs and feedback from States representatives on this initiative.
Background
This event was moderated by Vidur Chopra, ECCE Lead, UNICEF Europe & Central Asia. He set the background, recalling that despite the fundamental importance of early childhood care and education, well researched and documented, there are still huge inequalities in access and quality within and across countries, with those who would benefit the most often accessing ECCE the least.
He stressed that without adequate legal guarantees at the national and international levels, ECCE is often seen as a privilege rather than a right. He noted that while the International human rights law recognises some provisions of ECCE rights, it is scattered in multiple human rights instruments and needs more clarity, adding that the political commitments made by States are not translated into legal obligations. He explained that therefore the need to clarify and strengthen the international legal framework related to ECCE rights has been stressed in several international forums.
He flagged that while efforts are underway to explore a new legal instrument on the right to education through UNESCO’s Initiative on the evolving right to education, and the idea of an Optional Protocol to the CRC is explored, the development of Guiding Principles on ECCE also emerged as an avenue.
Portugal’s perspective
Mr. Mário Martins, Chargé d'Affaires, Permanent Mission of Portugal to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva and penholder of the resolution of the right to education in the Human Rights Council, gave opening remarks. He started noting that it was the second time during this session that he had the honor and pleasure to sit in a panel with the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, which is a good sign of the importance of education at the Human Rights Council.
He first shared some general thoughts on how ECCE is reflected in some international / multilateral frameworks. In the year of the Summit of the Future, he stressed that the Agenda 2030 addresses ECCE, in SDG 4. He also mentioned that the Pact of the Future, which will be the outcome of the Summit, contains several references to education and, in particular, one reference to Early Childhood Education, which Portugal will continue to defend and support. Referring to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, he indicated that unfortunately, pre-primary education is not mentioned. As regards the European framework, he noted that the European Pillar of Social Rights, in its principle 11, highlights the right of children to affordable early childhood education and care of good quality.
Then he shared an idea of the situation in Portugal, stressing that they defend the universal nature of the right to education at all levels. He informed that Portugal expanded free Pre-school Education, aiming for universal coverage for children aged 3 to; developed quality standards and curricula tailored to early childhood education, ensuring that care and education are holistic and inclusive; promote professional development for educators in early childhood settings to ensure high-quality education and care; and promote a logic of integrated services, combining education, health, and social services to support children and families, particularly those at risk or with special needs. He also recognised that challenges remain, including regional disparities in access and quality of ECCE services, and the need for greater investment in training and resources; as well as the need to do more efforts to create a better culture of collaboration between different sectors (education, health and social services), increasing public awareness of ECCE rights, and ensuring sustained funding and policy support to address existing gaps.
He concluded by stressing that Portugal is committed to ECCE, willing to ensure that all children, regardless of their background, have access to quality early childhood care and education, laying a strong foundation for lifelong learning and development.
UN Special Rapporteur’s insights
Ms. Farida Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, who stressed in her first report that adopting guidelines for implementing early childhood care and education would be a useful step towards strengthening the international and national legal framework on ECCE, shared her insights on the relevance of developing Guiding Principles on ECCE.
She recalled that the right of everyone to education is precisely what it says: the right of everyone, including also young children. Recalling that early childhood care and education lays the foundation for the right to lifelong education. She stressed that children accessing quality ECCE will get greater educational achievements that will improve their future learning, improve social integration and ensure better health and higher lifetime earnings.
However, while the importance of ECCE has been widely recognized in humanitarian and developmental fields, it has been insufficiently codified in human rights law. States have made political commitments on various occasions regarding ECCE, including the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 as well as during the UNESCO conference in Tashkent. Yet, ECCE is not always seen as a priority and lacks clear legal protection both at the international and national levels.
At the international level, at present, legal obligations under international human rights law to provide ECCE are not explicit and are captured piecemeal in multiple instruments. States' obligations are not visible. This is why she believes that the adoption of guidelines for implementing early childhood care and education would be a useful step, providing guidance to states and other stakeholders. While there is a need for a wider recognition of the right of every child to ECCE, we also need more clarity regarding its contents and related rights and obligations. This is important, as it would better guarantee children and their families the ability to realize their rights neither according to the interests of local politics or private providers, nor according to the ability of the child’s family to pay, but through State’s legal commitments, laws, policies and programmes.
UNESCO’s Initiative on the evolving right to education
Dr. Gwang Chol Chang, Chief, Section of Education Policy at UNESCO shared the background of the developments of the Guiding principles, in light of UNESCO’s evolving right to education initiative and recent developments regarding ECCE such as the Tashkent Declaration. He stated flagging that education is undergoing a transformational journey, no longer only confined to traditional school-based education but expanded to encompass lifelong and life-wide learning.
He indicated that to support the transformation of education, the UNESCO Initiative on the Evolving Right to Education investigates how the right to education could be further reinforced to meet evolving realities, better address contemporary challenges and anticipate future needs. He stressed that ultimately, the Initiative aims to ensure lifelong learning opportunities for each and every individual. He informed that over the 3 past years, key milestone events, covering the continuum of learning, as well consultations and experts’ discussions, have provided the opportunity to deep dive into the specific components of the right to education throughout life. This included the Tashkent Conference and Declaration, that calls for examining ‘the feasibility of supporting and enshrining the right to ECCE in a legal international instrument including in the context of the Evolving Right to Education Initiative led by UNESCO’.
Then he focused on ECCE rights as part of the Evolving Right to Education Initiative. He indicated that several areas needed stronger footing in the international framework, highlighting that ECCE needed particular attention, as early childhood is the most pivotal period for a child’s growth and development. He stressed the importance of investing in ECCE for mitigating educational inequalities and promoting equitable opportunities from the start. He remarked that this multifaceted field demands a comprehensive approach, necessitating multisectoral and coordinated strategies to address its holistic nature effectively. In UNESCO’s view, by strengthening ECCE within the global agenda, we can lay a stronger foundation for sustainable development and social equity.
He explained that the Guiding Principles on ECCE Rights will inform the Evolving Right to Education Initiative, stressing they are important as a first step towards strengthening the normative framework. He recalled that they intend to unpack and consolidate the existing legal obligations under various international instruments, including their interpretations, to ensure the effective realization of ECCE rights, while providing specific guidance to policy makers. Serving as a reference tool, they will help to clarify the existing ECCE normative content and will pave the way for the development of specific legal guidance on ECCE. He indicated that part of this process was the thematic reportproduced for the Tashkent Conference unfolding the parameters related to legal frameworks and rights that need to be considered while reflecting on strengthening the enforcement of ECCE, which was followed by the expert discussion on ‘clarifying the legal framework of ECCE rights’ in 2023.
Looking forward, he said that this event marked a collective effort to advance ECCE as a fundamental human right. He remarked that the recognition of ECCE as a right, underscores its critical importance in the global framework. He stressed the importance of embedding ECCE within robust legal frameworks and policies that guarantee every child's right to quality early education, regardless of their socio-economic background. He added that strengthening global cooperation is pivotal in this endeavor. He called for a reaffirmation of our commitment to strengthening the normative frameworks that enshrine ECCE as an inalienable human right, ensuring that every child can realize their full potential through access to high-quality early education and services. He underlined that this commitment would pave the way for sustainable development and a more equitable future for all children.
Methodology, content, and process
Sandy Fredman, Professor of Law at Oxford University and Chairperson of the working group who has been developing a draft of the guiding principles, shared the methodology and process followed to develop them and the content they cover.
She stressed that the development of these guiding principles has been led by a unique collaborative process involving UN agencies and experts, academics and civil society organisations. She explained that the methodology involved looking at the provisions in the various international treaties guaranteeing the right to education, as well as in their interpretations made by UN treaty bodies in their general comments and concluding observations. She indicated that the working group is considering taking also into account recent political commitments on ECCE made by States.
She referred to the aims of education highlighting the importance of the early years of education for the development of the child's personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential. She recalled that the Committee on the Rights of the Child interprets the right to education during early childhood as beginning at birth and closely linked to young children’s right to maximum development. In its General Comment No. 7, the Committee calls on States parties to ensure that all young children receive education in the broadest sense which acknowledges a key role for parents, wider family and community, as well as the contribution of organized programmes of early childhood education provided by the State, the community or civil society institutions.
She briefly presented the content of the current draft which is structured around various dimensions of ECCE rights and covers:
● Definitions
● Equal and Inclusive ECCE for All (Equality and Non-Discrimination, Availability and Accessibility, Inclusion, ECCE in and after Emergencies and Protracted Crises)
● Quality ECCE for All (Learning Environment, Learning Content and Process, Adaptability)
● ECCE Personnel, Parental Engagement and Care Work (ECCE Personnel, Parental Engagement and Care Work)
● Governance and Financing (Inter-sectoral and Integrated Approach to ECCE, Improved Data, Monitoring and Evaluation, Financing)
● Non-State Actors in ECCE
Way forward
Delphine Dorsi, Executive Director at the Right to Education Initiative, which has a full dedicated programme on ECCE and is one of the civil society organisations, member of the working group provided information about the next steps.
She indicated that the working group will soon call for written contributions on the draft and will also organised in parallel online and in-person contributions. The aim is to have them in various regions and in various languages as well as with various constituencies including ECCE personals, parents, youth, States, Experts, UN development agencies, academics and civil society organisations.
***
Co-organisers of the events
● UNESCO
● Office of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education
● Oxford Human Rights Hub
● Right to Education Initiative (RTE)
● World Organization for Early Childhood Education (OMEP)
● The Latin American Campaign for the Right to Education (CLADE)
● Global Campaign for Education (GCE)
● Education International (EI)
● Equal Education Law Centre (EELC)
● Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER)
● Human Rights Watch