This documented was submitted to the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education in February 2023, in response to a call for contributions for a report she is developing for the UN Human Rights Council.
The present report outlines the main activities undertaken by the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Felipe González Morales, during the reporting period. In the report, the Special Rapporteur highlights the human rights challenges faced by migrants in an irregular situation by providing an analysis on how irregularity increases vulnerability to human rights violations. He discusses how to address situations of vulnerability of migrants due to a lack of regular migration status by creating and strengthening regularization mechanisms. On the basis of the information and analysis provided by States, international organizations, civil society and other stakeholders, the Special Rapporteur identifies promising practices, ongoing efforts and existing challenges and provides a set of recommendations aimed at expanding and diversifying regularization mechanisms and programmes to enhance the protection of the human rights of migrants.
In the present report, submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 8/4 and 44/3, the Special Rapporteur on the right to education addresses the risks and opportunities of the digitalization of education and their impact on the right to education.
The Special Rapporteur calls for discussions relating to the introduction of digital technologies in education to be framed around the right of every person to free, quality, public education and the commitments of States in this regard under both international human rights law and Sustainable Development Goal 4.
In particular, the implementation of the right to education must respond to the needs of all persons to access, master and use technology as an empowering tool for being active members of society. The digitalization of education should be geared towards a better implementation of the right to education for all, where it is demonstrated that it brings a significant added value. In this regard, it is important to understand the profit-driven agenda of digital technology lobbyists and companies. In addition, the digitalization of education should not increase inequalities and benefit already privileged segments of societies only or lead to violations of other human rights within education, in particular the right to privacy.
UNESCO together with UNICEF, the World Bank, UNFPA, UNDP, UN Women and UNHCR organised the World Education Forum 2015 in Incheon, Republic of Korea, from 19 – 22 May 2015, hosted by the Republic of Korea. Over 1,600 participants from 160 countries, including over 120 Ministers, heads and members of delegations, heads of agencies and officials of multilateral and bilateral organisations, and representatives of civil society, the teaching profession, youth and the private sector, adopted the Incheon Declaration for Education 2030, which sets out a new vision for education for the next fifteen years.
In this general comment, the Committee emphasizes that the rights of every child must be respected, protected and fulfilled in the digital environment. This document is the result of a two-year consultation with States parties, inter-governmental organizations, civil society, national human rights institutions and children. Over 700 children and young people, aged between nine and 22 years old in 27 countries, were asked how digital technology impacts their rights, and what actions they want to see taken to protect them.
Articles pertaining to the right to education: 99-105
This joint statement signed by RTE and 18 CSOs responds to a report published in September 2023 by the International Development Committee (IDC) of the UK House of Commons, entitled ‘Investment for development - The UK’s Strategy towards Development Finance Initiatives. The report’ raises major concerns about the UK’s investments as part of development aid which the signatory organisations working on education share and reiterate. In this joint statement we respond to this report and express our concern about the British International Investment’s (BII) activities and impacts in key sectors responsible for delivering human rights, including education and health.
The aim of this document is to create a set of key building blocks for developing a model national regulatory framework for private schools, that can be adapted by states to their context. As such, the starting point is not a pre-determined framework, but a content analysis of provisions that exist in the laws of India’s states and union territories. At the same time, the principal suggestive frameworks for similar legislation made by principal stakeholders working on these issues from diverse ideological positions and entry points are also included. These include the FICCI Arise (from the perspective of the private schools themselves), the All India Parents’ Association (from the perspective of parents) and the NCPCR (from the perspective of children).
School meals play a critical role in children’s lives. They are an essential intervention in development and humanitarian contexts, proven to have long-lasting impacts across multiple Sustainable Development Goals and sectors, including food security, nutrition and health, education, water and sanitation, child protection, gender equality, and prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. They are at the juncture of the right to food, the right to health and the right to education. They also offer enormous potential for the catalysation of food systems, with nutritious, locally-grown and appropriate foods, creation of jobs and contributions towards livelihoods, among other benefits. Civil society organisations have an essential role to play in supporting school meals programmes globally through collective advocacy, technical assistance, capacity sharing and fostering partnerships.
This joint statement contains our calls to action for equitable access to healthy and nutritious, sustainably sourced school meals.
Education is not a privilege. It is a human right. This central tenet of international law is our foundational pillar, and guides our work as a non-governmental international human rights organisation dedicated entirely to the promotion and defence of the right to education.
Our vision is a world in which everyone can fully enjoy the right to education in all its dimensions from birth to adulthood and throughout life, regardless of their status and circumstances, and where all human rights in and through education are respected, protected and realised.
This document sets out our bold ambitions, and our plans for making them happen. Find out more about how we will advance the right to education in a changing world.
A statement signed by 33 organisations who are gravely concerned about the recent media report of child sexual abuse at Bridge International Academies in Kenya, and allegations that the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) for years turned a blind eye to the abuse.