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OHCHR calls for their immediate release.
About the mandate
Special Rapporteur on the right to education
At its 54th session, the Commission on Human Rights adopted resolution 1998/33 of 17 April 1998, in which it decided to appoint, for a period of three years, a Special Rapporteur to focus on the right to education.
Between 1998 and 2005, the Commission on Human Rights adopted yearly resolutions (see table below) related to the mandate of the Special Rapporteur. It extended the mandate for periods of three years in 2001 and again in 2004.
In June 2006, the Commission on Human Rights was replaced by the Human Rights Council pursuant to General Assembly resolution 60/251. On 18 June 2007, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 5/1, which extended the mandate. The Council also adopted resolution 5/2, containing a Code of Conduct for special procedures mandate holders.
In June 2008, the Human Rights Council reviewed the mandate and extended it for three more years in resolution 8/4. In this resolution, the Council requested the Special Rapporteur 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 on and obstacles limiting effective access to education, and to make recommendations on appropriate measures to promote and protect the right to education;
- Intensify efforts aimed at identifying ways and means to overcome obstacles and difficulties in the realization of the right to education;
- 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;
- Integrate a gender perspective in all of his work;
- Review the interdependence and interrelatedness of the right to education with other human rights;
- 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; and
- 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.
Since 2008, the Human Rights Council has extended the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for periods of three years.
It has also requested that the Special Rapporteur take fully into account, in the discharge of his or her mandate, all provisions of Human Rights Council resolutions on the right to education. The tables below indicate the various relevant resolutions adopted by the Human Rights Council.
Resolutions of the Human Rights Council related to the mandate and the work of the Special Rapporteur
|
Year |
Symbol |
Title |
| 2023 | A/HRC/RES/53/7 | The right to education (extending the mandate of the Special Rapporteur) |
| 2021 | A/HRC/RES/47/6 | The right to education |
|
2020 |
The right to education (extending the mandate of the Special Rapporteur) |
|
|
2019 |
The right to education: follow-up to Human Rights Council resolution 8/4 |
|
|
2018 |
The right to education: follow-up to Human Rights Council resolution 8/4 |
|
|
2017 |
The right to education: follow-up to Human Rights Council resolution 8/4 (extending the mandate of the Special Rapporteur) |
|
|
2016 |
The right to education |
|
|
2015 |
The right to education |
|
|
2014 |
The right to education (extending the mandate of the Special Rapporteur) |
|
|
2013 |
The right to education: follow-up to Human Rights Council resolution 8/4 |
|
|
2012 |
The right to education: follow-up to Human Rights Council resolution 8/4 |
|
|
2011 |
The right to education: follow-up to Human Rights Council resolution 8/4 (extending the mandate of the Special Rapporteur) |
|
|
2010 |
The right to education: follow-up to Human Rights Council resolution 8/4 |
|
|
2009 |
The right to education: follow-up to Human Rights Council resolution 8/4 |
|
|
2008 |
The right to education (extending the mandate of the Special Rapporteur) |
Other relevant resolutions
|
Year |
Symbol |
Title |
| 2022 | A/HRC/RES/51/2 | World Programme for Human Rights Education |
| 2021 | A/HRC/RES/47/5 | Realization of the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl |
|
2020 |
Enhancement of technical cooperation and capacity-building in the field of human rights(with a focus on Technical cooperation to advance the right to education and ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all) |
|
|
2019 |
World Programme for Human Rights Education: adoption of the plan of action for the fourth phase |
|
|
2019 |
Rights of the child: empowering children with disabilities for the enjoyment of their human rights, including through inclusive education |
|
|
2018 |
World Programme for Human Rights Education |
|
|
2017 |
World Programme for Human Rights Education |
|
|
2017 |
Realizing the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl |
|
|
2016 |
Realizing the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl |
|
|
2016 |
Human rights education and training |
|
|
2014 |
World Programme for Human Rights Education: adoption of the plan of action for the third phase |
|
|
2014 |
Panel discussion on realizing the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl |
|
|
2014 |
The right to education of persons with disabilities |
|
|
2013 |
World Programme for Human Rights Education |
|
|
2013 |
Education as a tool to prevent racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance |
|
|
2012 |
World Programme for Human Rights Education |
|
|
2011 |
United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training |
|
|
2010 |
World Programme for Human Rights Education: adoption of the plan of action for the second phase |
|
|
2010 |
United Nations declaration on human rights education and training |
|
|
2010 |
World Programme for Human Rights Education |
|
|
2009 |
World Programme for Human Rights Education |
Resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights
|
Year |
Symbol |
Title |
|
54th |
Question of the realization in all countries of the economic, social and cultural rights contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and study of special problems which the developing countries face in their efforts to achieve these human rights |
|
|
55th |
Question of the realization in all countries of the economic, social and cultural rights contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and study of special problems which the developing countries face in their efforts to achieve these human rights |
|
|
56th |
Question of the realization in all countries of the economic, social and cultural rights |
|
|
57th |
The right to education |
|
|
58th |
The right to education |
|
|
60th |
The right to education |
|
|
61st |
The right to education |