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Sovereign Law Series

UN Human Rights Council
Resolution “The Right of
Education” of 2008


Short-Form Reference:

2008 UN-HRC Resolution “Right of Education”

In-Line Micro Reference:

2008 UN-HRC “Right of Education”

Ratification / Registration:

UN-HRC Res. 8/4 (18 Jun 2008)


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Introductory Notes by the Independent Judiciary

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added in Green font, in Brackets, to guide effective use to assert and enforce rights.]



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Official Text of this Law Source as Ratified

UN Human Rights Council “The Right of Education”

Preamble

The Human Rights Council,

Reaffirming all previous resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights on the right
to education, inter alia, resolution 2005/21 of 15 April 2005;

Recalling that everyone shall enjoy the human right to education, which is enshrined,
inter alia, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and
other pertinent international instruments;

Recalling also that in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, it is resolved that
children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of
primary schooling and that girls and boys will have equal access to all levels of
education by 2015, and emphasizing the importance of realizing the right to education
in attaining the Millennium Development Goals;

Affirming that the realization of the right to education, including for girls and persons
belonging to vulnerable groups, contributes to the eradication of poverty and of
racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;

Deeply concerned that some 72 million children, 57 per cent of whom are girls and 37
million of whom live in conflict-affected fragile States, are out of school, and that 774
million adults, 64 per cent of whom are women, still lack basic literacy skills, despite
progress made in recent years towards achieving the goals of the Education for All
initiative agreed upon at the World Education Forum, held in Dakar in April 2000;

Affirming that good governance and the rule of law will assist all States to promote
and protect human rights, including the right to education;

Bearing in mind the need for adequate financial resources so that everyone can realize
their right to education, and the importance in this regard of national resource
mobilization, as well as international cooperation;

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Recalling Council resolutions 5/1 on institution-building of the Human Rights Council
and 5/2 on the code of conduct for special procedures mandate-holders of the Council
of 18 June 2007, and stressing that the mandate-holder shall discharge his/her duties
in accordance with those resolutions and the annexes thereto:

Section 1

Welcomes the work of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education and takes note
of his reports on girls’ right to education (E/CN.4/2006/45, as well as Add.1), on the
right to education of persons with disabilities (A/HRC/4/29, as well as Adds.1, 2 and 3)
and on the right to education in emergency situations (A/HRC/8/10, as well as Adds.1,
2, 3 and 4), and of the report of the Secretary-General on economic, social and cultural
rights (A/HRC/7/58);

Section 2

Notes with interest the work carried out by the Committee on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Rights of the Child in the promotion of the
right to education, notably through the issuing of general comments and concluding
observations and the holding of days of general discussion;

Section 3

Welcomes the work undertaken by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights in the promotion of the right to education at the
country, regional and headquarters levels, including the development of a list of
indicators on the right to education;

Section 4

Also welcomes the contribution of the United Nations Children’s Fund and that of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization towards attaining the
Millennium Development Goals of achieving universal primary education and
eliminating gender disparity in education and the goals of the Education for All
initiative agreed upon at the World Education Forum;



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Section 5

Further welcomes the establishment of the Education Cluster by the Inter-Agency
Standing Committee in November 2006 as an important mechanism to assess and
address, in a coordinated manner, educational needs in emergency situations,
including by promoting the implementation of the minimum standards for education
in emergencies developed by the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies,
and calls on donors to support it financially;

Section 6

Welcomes the proclamation by the General Assembly of the World Programme for
Human Rights Education, which began on 1 January 2005, and the continued progress
of the United Nations Literacy Decade launched on 13 February 2003;

Section 7

Urges all States:

(a)
To give full effect to the right to education and to guarantee that this right is
recognized and exercised without discrimination of any kind;

(b)
To take all appropriate measures to eliminate obstacles limiting effective access
to education, notably by girls, including pregnant girls and young mothers, children
living in poor communities and rural areas, children belonging to minority groups,
indigenous children, migrant children, refugee children, internally displaced children,
children affected by armed conflicts, children affected by natural disasters, children
with disabilities, children affected by infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, sexually
exploited children, children deprived of their liberty, children living in the street,
working children and orphaned children;

(c)
To ensure that primary education is compulsory, accessible and available free to
all;

(d)
To promote the renewal and expansion of basic formal education of good
quality, which includes both early childhood care and education and primary
education, using inclusive and innovative approaches, including regulations, to
increase access and attendance for all;

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(e)
To recognize and promote lifelong learning for all, in both formal and informal
settings and to support domestic literacy programmes, including vocational education
components and non-formal education, in order to reach marginalized children, youth
and adults, especially girls and women, and persons with disabilities, to ensure that
they enjoy the right to education;

(f)
To improve all aspects of the quality of education aimed at ensuring excellence
of all persons so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by
all, especially in literacy, numeracy, essential life skills and human rights education;

(g)
To emphasize the development of quality
indicators and monitoring
instruments, to consider undertaking or supporting studies on best practices for
elaborating and implementing strategies for improving the quality of education and
meeting the learning needs of all, to give appropriate priority to the collection of
quantitative and qualitative data relating to disparities in education, including gender
disparities and disparities affecting persons with disabilities, and to carry out surveys
and build up a knowledge base in order to provide advice on the use of information
and communication technologies in education;

(h)
To improve school infrastructure, guarantee a safe school environment and
promote school health, education on reproductive health issues and preventive
education against HIV/AIDS and drug abuse;

(i)
To reinforce the mainstreaming of human rights education, intercultural
education and education for peace in educational activities, in order to strengthen
respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;

(j)
To adopt effective measures to encourage regular attendance at school and
reduce school dropout rates;

(k)
To support the implementation of plans and programmes of action to ensure
quality education and improved enrolment and retention rates for boys and girls and
the elimination of gender discrimination and gender stereotypes in educational
curricula and materials, as well as in the process of education;

(l)
To adapt education, if necessary, in order to suit the specific needs of women,
girls, teenagers and persons with disabilities;

(m) To enhance the status and working conditions of teachers, address shortages of
qualified teachers, and promote the training of teachers so that they can respond to
diversity in the classroom;

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(n)
To take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational
measures, in accordance with the best interest of the child, to protect the child from
all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent
treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse in schools, and in this
context to take measures to eliminate corporal punishment in schools, and to
incorporate in their legislation appropriate sanctions for violations and the provision of
redress and rehabilitation for victims;

(o) To take all measures to ensure an inclusive education system, inter alia for
persons with disabilities and, in particular, to ensure that no child is prevented from
receiving free primary education on account of his or her disability;

(p)
To ensure that the right to education is respected in emergency situations and,
in this regard, underlines the importance of this right being realized by States to the
maximum of their available resources, and, where necessary, by international
organizations, to the extent possible, and based, inter alia, on assessed need by the
State concerned, as an integral part of their humanitarian response to emergency
situations;

(q)
To support the efforts of developing countries, in particular least developed
countries, to give full effect to the right to education and achieve the Millennium
Development Goals relating to education and the goals of the Education for All
initiative agreed upon at the World Education Forum, including with enhanced
resources of all types, namely financial and technical, through the Education for All
fast-track initiative in support of country-led national education plans;

Section 8

Reaffirms the importance of developing further the regular dialogue between the
United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, other partners that pursue the goals of the Dakar Framework for Action
and the Special Rapporteur, with a view to integrating further the right to education
into the operational activities of the United Nations system, invites them to pursue
that dialogue and reiterates its invitation to the United Nations Children’s Fund and
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to submit to the
Council information pertaining to their activities in promoting primary education, with
specific reference to women and children, particularly girls, persons with disabilities
and education in the context of emergency situations;



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Section 9

Decides to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education for
a period of three years:

(a)
To gather, request, receive and exchange information from all relevant sources,
including Governments, intergovernmental organizations, civil society, including non-
governmental organizations, and other concerned stakeholders, on the realization of
the right to education and on obstacles limiting effective access to education, and to
make recommendations on appropriate measures to promote and protect the right to
education;

(b)
To intensify efforts aimed at identifying ways and means to overcome obstacles
and difficulties in the realization of the right to education;

(c)
To make recommendations that could contribute to the realization of the
Millennium Development Goals, and in particular of development goals 2 and 3, and of
the goals of the Education for All initiative agreed upon at the World Education Forum;

(d)
To integrate a gender perspective throughout all of his work;

(e)
To review the interdependence and interrelatedness of the right to education
with other human rights;

(f)
To cooperate with the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,
the
International Labour
Organization, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, other special
rapporteurs, representatives, experts and members of working groups of the Human
Rights Council, and other relevant United Nations bodies, including human rights
treaty bodies, and regional organizations, as well as to pursue the dialogue with the
World Bank;

(g)
To report to the Council on a yearly basis, in accordance with the Council’s
programme of work, and to report yearly to the General Assembly on an interim basis;

Section 10

Requests the Special Rapporteur to take fully into account, in the discharge of his
mandate, all provisions of the present resolution;


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Section 11

Requests all States to continue cooperating with the Special Rapporteur with a view to
facilitating his tasks in the discharge of his mandate, and to respond favourably to his
requests for information and visits;

Section 12

Requests the Secretary-General to provide the Special Rapporteur with all the
assistance necessary for the execution of his mandate;

Section 13

Decides to continue its consideration of the right to education under the same agenda
item.