On the 15 February 2017, a partnership of civil society organisations that have been involved in rights-based struggles for access to a quality basic education will launch a Basic Education Rights Handbook.
The 2030 Agenda is explicitly grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights treaties. Indeed, the integration of human rights language into Agenda 2030 has been welcomed by States and civil society concerned to address concerns about the Millennium Development Goals’ (MDGs) ‘human rights-blindness’ and accountability shortcomings.
More than seven years after being approved in the Haitian Chamber of Deputies and Senate, the law on school fees was approved by the country’s president, Jocelerme Privert on 3 January 2017 and published in Le Moniteur, the country’s Official Gazette,
Amin, 18, became a refugee when his family fled Syria for Lebanon five years ago. He has not set foot in school since. With his father unable to get legal status or work, responsibility for supporting the family of seven fell to Amin.
Update: the amendment was passed by Brazil's Senate on the 13 December.
In a statement issued by the United Nations, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, has warned that the Brazil government’s proposal to amend the country’s constitution, thereby freezing pubic spending over the next 20 years, is ‘entirely incompatible with the country’s human rights obligations’.
Press release by 58 organisations, 2 December 2016
(Antananarivo, Nairobi, Uganda, Paris, Port-au-Prince, Quebec, Rabat)
The heads of the 57 member States of the International Organisaton of La Francophonie (OIF) released the Antanarivo Declaration on 27th November, 2016. The Declaration calls for the regulation of private actors in education, in the strongest terms yet expressed by heads of State, as well as for increased support for public schools.
‘I felt that humanity has ended. I mean, a place of learning, to be hit in this way, without warning… where is humanity? ...It is supposed to be illegal in any war to strike such places…’
A teacher’s account of airstrikes on al Shaymeh School, Hodeidah, Yemen (25 and 27 August 2015) in ‘Schools Under Attack in Yemen’ Amnesty International Report (11 December 2015).
The 15 organisations endorsing this statement take note of the decision taken by the High Court of Uganda sitting in Kampala on Friday 4th November which confirms that the process followed by the Ugandan Government to decide to close schools run by Bridge International Academies (BIA) was fair and legal.
This volunteer role is a unique opportunity to use your skills and talents doing important work whilst gaining valuable work experience in a major international NGO.
The Right to Education Project (RTE), housed at ActionAid International in London, is a collaborative initiative between ActionAid, Amnesty International, the Global Campaign for Education, Save the Children and Human Rights Watch. RTE promotes mobilisation and accountability on the right to education, seeking to build bridges across the human rights, education and development disciplines.