The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which oversees states’ efforts to implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the foremost treaty guaranteeing the human rights of women around the world, has published its interpretation of Article 10 of CEDAW which guarantees the right to education. General Recommendation 36 elaborates the legal obligations of states under CEDAW to eradicate the discriminatory barriers preventing girls from enjoying their right to education and implement measures to bring about equality in practice, and makes concrete and actionable legal and policy recommendations which would bring states into compliance with CEDAW. In doing so, the Committee introduces a novel approach to understand the full nature of the right: the ‘tripartite human rights framework’, which consists of rights of access to education, rights within education, and rights through education. Read the General Recommendation, here. In addition, look out for RTE’s new page on the right to education of women and girls, to be published early next month.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on Migrant Workers also released a joint General Comment on the general principles regarding the human rights of children in the context of international migration, which aims to provide authoritative guidance on legislative, policy and other appropriate measures that should be taken to ensure full compliance with the obligations to fully protect the rights of children in the context of international migration. Read the General Comment, here.