Domestic work is an important occupation for millions of individuals. Women make up the overwhelming majority of these workers.
Noting the omission of express references to either domestic work or domestic workers in a broad range of national and international frameworks of law, the Committee
on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families issued a general comment in order to provide States with guidance on how to implement
their obligations under the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and the Members of Their Families.
Paragraphs 14, 57 and 59 refer to the right to education.
Francis M. Deng, the Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons (1992-2004), developped these guidelines in 1998. It is a set of 30 recommendations, which define who Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are, outline the large body of existing international law protecting people’s basic rights, and describe the responsibility of states. Although not legally binding, they constitute a comprehensive minimum standard for the treatment of IDPs and are being applied by a growing number of states and institutions. They may also help empower IDPs themselves by providing them with information about their rights as citizens of their own country. Principle 23 is about the right to education.
The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination prohibits racial discrimination in the enjoyment of human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights. Article 5 guarantees the right to education of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour or national or ethnic origin. Article 7 encourages States to take measures to combat prejudices, which lead to racial discrimination in the field of teaching and education and to promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among nations and racial or ethnical groups.
The report was published in July 2020 by the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Koumbou Boly Barry.
The obligation of States to ensure that educational facilities within their jurisdictions meet human rights standards requires a clear understanding of the synergies between the right to education and other human rights, and ways of further promoting the integration of those rights into practices.
In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on the right to education focuses on the interrelations between the right to education and the rights to water and sanitation, including hygiene and menstrual health and hygiene. She explores situations in which the failure to respect, protect and fulfil the rights to water and sanitation in education institutions impedes the realization of the right to education. She underlines that, conversely, the rights to water and sanitation, like many other human rights, cannot be fully implemented without the realization of the right to education, which enables people’s understanding, agency and autonomy in those areas.
The report contains guidelines for the provision of water and sanitation in educational settings, for the realization of the right to education. The final section of the report contains recommendations for stakeholders.
For more information, you can also consult the factsheet of the report.
This factsheet is based on the report of the Special rapporteur on the right to education on the interrelations between the right to education and the rights to water and sanitation which intends to build a holistic approach on human rights, and highlights that rights to water and sanitation are prerequisites for the efficiency of the right to education.