In the present report, the Special Rapporteur reviews the situation of refugees with regard to the right to education, in particular in the context of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Reports on the broader issue of education in emergencies were presented to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/8/10) and the General Assembly (A/66/269) by previous incumbents. The Special Rapporteur considers that it is relevant to follow-up on the issue in today’s context. She touches on the specific challenges refugees face in their quest for quality education at all levels, reflects on some best practices and innovations set in place in countries and proposes recommendations to overcome challenges in this area.
The Special Rapporteur concludes by calling upon States to ensure access to inclusive quality educ ation for refugees in line with Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goal, by mainstreaming this in their national plans and strategies.
In her first report to the Human Rights Council, 25 years after the establishment of the mandate on the right to education, the Special Rapporteur reviews achievements, particularly on how the right to education is understood today and the obligations it entails, as well as contemporary and emerging issues that need to be considered to ensure the right to education for all, today and in the future.
A/HRC/53/27
In her 2022 Report on the impact of the digitalisation of education on the right to education, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to education clarified that any introduction of digital technologies in education must be framed around the right of every person to public, free, quality education and the commitments of states in this regard both under international human rights law and Sustainable Development Goal 4. This paper affirms that state obligations under the human rights framework must be the starting point for assessing and responding to discussions related to the monitoring of children’s activities and the collection and use of their data in the field of education. Part 2 outlines the international and regional human rights legal framework that governs the relationship between technology and education, providing a baseline upon which states can verify compliance with international human rights law and useful guidance for anyone seeking to understand the impacts of existing and emerging educational products and services. Part 3 then provides a comparative analysis of the regulation of technology and education in ten countries, through an examination of current data protection, education and related legislation, for the purpose of understanding how different countries are paying attention to and addressing key human rights issues with regards to technology in education in practice.
Background paper to 2023 UNESCO GEM Report 'Technology in education: a tool on whose terms?'
The present report of the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism, Muluka-Anne Miti-Drummond, is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 28/6 and 46/12. The report focuses on the right to education for persons with albinism and their experiences in different regions.
The right to education and lifelong learning is at the very heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development because education, knowledge and learning are central to the dignity, growth and development of the individual. For centuries, education has been the great equalizer, a driving force of nation-building, and the engine of social, cultural, economic and technological progress. Today, however, beset by twin crises of equity and relevance, education as we know it is no longer fit for purpose.
Building on the Transforming Education Summit and the report of the International Commission on the Futures of Education, the present policy brief examines the current crisis in education in more detail and puts forward a vision and a set of guiding actions for countries and the international community to transform education. It concludes with two overarching recommendations for the consideration of Member States in their preparations for the Summit of the Future.
This policy-oriented research paper investigates some of the aspects of the right to education that might require a stronger footing in the international normative framework and potential expansion for the 21st century. Digital education, increasing human mobility, changing demographics, climate change, and expectations of opportunities for learning throughout life are just a few of the areas that are testing the limits of the existing international normative framework. The culmination of a round of open consultation processes, as well as international seminars and events, and research, this paper presents some of the emerging trends, challenges, and norms that have been discussed.
45 civil society organisations receive with concern the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman’s (CAO’s) Compliance Investigation Report into the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) investment in Bridge International Academies (BIA, also known as NewGlobe schools), and acknowledge its grave findings regarding allegations of child sexual abuse at the company’s for-profit chain of schools in Kenya.
Our 2023 Annual Report includes information about our impact and areas of activity across the year, in addition to details on our strategy, our team and our supporters.
Our work would not be possible without the generous support of our donors, to whom we are immensely grateful.
The INEE Minimum Standards for Education: Preparedness, Response, Recovery (INEE MS) contains 19 standards, each of which includes key actions and guidance notes. The purpose of the INEE MS is to improve the quality of educational preparedness, response, and recovery; to increase access to safe and relevant learning opportunities; and to ensure that the actors who provide these services are held accountable. The INEE MS are designed to be applicable to crisis response in many different situations, including emergencies caused by conflict, by natural hazards such as those induced by climate change, and slow- and rapid-onset crises in both rural and urban environments.
The present report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Farida Shaheed, examines the right to academic freedom from a right to education perspective. It proposes considering academic freedom an autonomous human right grounded in several provisions of international law.
Academic freedom is the freedom to access, disseminate and produce information; to think freely; and develop, express, apply and engage with a diversity of knowledge within or related to one’s expertise or field of study, regardless of whether it takes place inside the academic community (“intramural expression”) or outside the academic community, including with the public (“extramural expression”). It is a human right the exercise of which carries special duties to seek truth and impart information according to ethical and professional standards, and to respond to contemporary problems and needs of all members of society.
In the sphere of education, the Special Rapporteur supports an approach of academic freedom which all researchers, educators and students are entitled to, at all levels of education, taking into consideration the developing capacities and maturity of students. Academic freedom includes four interdependent pillars: the right to teach, to engage in discussions and debates with persons and groups inside (including in classrooms) and outside the academic community, to conduct research, and to disseminate opinions and research results. Such approach requires understanding the vitality of free expression in teaching, to review the concept of “neutrality” in education, and to reconsider processes for accrediting school manuals and imposing or prohibiting specific subjects from curricula, having in mind the aims of education under international human rights law. Educators can only foster critical thinking and provide diverse perspectives if they, themselves, enjoy academic freedom, while upholding the principles of pluralism, respect for others, and the pursuit of knowledge.
The Special Rapporteur draws the attention of the Human Rights Council and all stakeholders to the set of Principles for Implementing the Right to Academic Freedom, drafted by a working group of United Nations experts, scholars, and civil society actors, based on and reflecting the status of international law and practice. Endorsement and implementation of these Principles would allow a better state of academic freedom worldwide.