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September 2020 update on the implementation of the Abidjan Principles on the right to education

Dear *|FNAME|*,

As you will see below, a number of reports have been released and events have taken place which have used the Abidjan Principles as guidelines. The Principles are continuing their growing uptake by a range of institutions - and even inspire other sectors, like water! There will be more soon, with new projects making progress and audio-visual material published in the coming months.

Below is an overview of the key developments that have taken place since our last update in April.

For more information, follow the developments on the Abidjan Principles website, and on Twitter via the hashtag #AbidjanPrinciples.

Updates

On 1st July, The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights published Guidelines on the Right to Water in Africa which echo the key concept from the Abidjan Principles on the right to education. Read more: https://www.achpr.org/legalinstruments/detail?id=71
The Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education highlights how the Abidjan Principles can guide States’ response to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the right to education. Read more: https://www.gi-escr.org/human-rights-mechanisms-database/right-to-education-impact-of-the-covid-19-crisis-on-the-right-to-education-concerns-challenges-and-opportunities
Oxfam India refers to the Abidjan Principles as a way for the Indian government to ensure that the private sector acts in line with its human rights obligations, in their brief World Bank Funded Project Stars: A Critique.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education’s report to the Government of Tunisia stipulated the need to “take measures to regulate the private sector in accordance with the principles to the right to education and encourages the state to use the Abidjan Principles as a tool to put in place an appropriate framework.” Read more: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session44/Pages/ListReports.aspx

In Argentina, the Asociación Civil por la Igualdad de la Justicia (ACIJ) and the Human Rights Center of the University of Buenos Aires's Law School filed a class action against the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, arguing that private schools systematically reject children with disabilities, and that the local Government failed to regulate it. The complaint largely drew from the Abidjan Principles, addressing the obligation of the local government to monitor compliance of private institutions with the right to education and ensure access to an effective remedy for violations of the right to education and for any human rights abuses by a private actor involved in education. On 23rd September, the judge granted precautionary measures requiring the Government to take immediate action, in a resolution that validates many of the arguments from the complaint.

Recent events

On 17 June the South African Constitutional Court ruled that independent (private) schools are required to afford parents and learners a fair opportunity to be heard on whether a decision to terminate a contract with the school is in the best interests of the children concerned. Equal Education Law Centre referred explicitly to Guiding Principle 55 in its submissions. Read more: https://www.right-to-education.org/news/south-africa-constitutional-court-says-private-schools-have-obligation-not-impair-right
On 24 June, the Right to Education Initiative presented the Abidjan Principles on webinar on privatisation organised by the Brazilian Campaign for the Right to Education. Read more: https://semanadeacaomundial.org/?fbclid=IwAR26mUWd1m3SNkDq1N8r9L6tnuOAClasQ9MHZHhptautOaMGkWqDk1eSUo8
On 25 June, GI-ESCR co-organised a research webinar on the Abidjan Principles on the right to education with a group of researchers and civil society, to discuss how the Principles can be used in social sciences research. Read more: https://www.gi-escr.org/latest-news/gi-escr-co-organises-a-research-webinar-on-the-abidjan-principles-on-the-right-to-education
On 9 July, the Côte d’Ivoire Network for the Promotion of Education for All organized a capacity building workshop for professionals on the Abidjan Principles. Read more: https://www.lintelligentdabidjan.info/news/gnelou-paul-pca-reseau-ivoirien-pour-la-promotion-de-leducation-pour-tous-leducation-est-un-service-public-qui-releve-de-lobligation-de-letat/
On 24 and 31 July, the International Commission of Jurists, together with the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Right to Education Initiative, held webinars to explore the Abidjan Principles and their application in the context of COVID-19. Participants included judges and representatives of civil society organizations from Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Sierra Leone. Read more: https://www.icj.org/icj-co-hosts-webinars-on-the-right-to-education/?fbclid=IwAR3qUZagAN5xAzaX0BqfB9Lqxms-LOH3kbytwTB1n7UyiwQzqU3vZQ4OpKw
On 3 September, the Côte d’Ivoire Network for the Promotion of Education for All organised a workshop for Members of Parliament and Ministry of Education personnel to discuss the use of the Abidjan Principles in policy design, as well as to examine the review of the country’s Education Sector Plan 2016-2025 in light of the Abidjan Principles. Read more: https://www.gi-escr.org/latest-news/ivory-coast-gi-escr-presents-abidjan-principles-to-members-of-parliament-and-ministry-of-education

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