Abidjan Principles January 2022 update

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View this email in your browser Dear  colleagues, Throughout the last six months, the Abidjan Principles have continued to be at the core of the education policy debates and developments. Among the highlights from this period,  the Abidjan Principles’ gained yet further recognition by international and regional human rights bodies, including the UN Human Rights Council and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The Abidjan Principles also received unprecedented coverage thanks to the global launch of a 2' minute video animation featuring the stories of three children facing typical challenges in their access to free, quality education. The video, which has been narrated by Kenyan actress  Sarah Hassan has already received over 75,000 views on YouTube, 18,000 on Instagram, and 761,000 on Facebook! And last but not least, two major international education reports, the November 2021 UNESCO 'Futures of Education' report and the December 2021 Global Education Monitoring Report's latest flagship publication on non-state actors both echo and align with critical concepts developed in the Abidjan Principles.    Below is an overview of a few highlights since June 2021, as well as upcoming events for the next few months. This includes the 3rd anniversary celebration of the Abidjan Principles. Details will be announced shortly, but you can already save the date for a discussion on profit in education on Monday 14th February at 2pm GMT. Stay tuned and scroll down to find out more!  For more information, follow the developments on the Abidjan Principles website, and on Twitter via the hashtag #AbidjanPrinciples   Human Rights Council Resolution recognises again the Abidjan Principles Following an earlier resolution from 2019, the Human Rights Council on 12 July 2021 had adopted another important resolution by consensus, led by Portugal and sponsored by 54 States, ranging from Morocco to Nepal and the USA, that reaffirms its recognition of the Abidjan Principles on the right to education and urges States to act against commercialisation of education.  The resolution also encourages “the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to collaborate with relevant United Nations agencies, including UNESCO, the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), and civil society organizations to provide technical support to States to realize the right to education in the COVID-19 and post-COVID context”. Read the resolution here.   On 16 July 2021, 25 civil society organisations co-signed a public statement welcoming the Human Rights Council’s resolution on the right to education, sponsored by 54 States. Read the full statement in English, French and Spanish. UNESCO Futures of Education Report echoes Abidjan Principles concepts  UNESCO’s flagship report “Reimagining our futures together: a new social contract for education”, released in November 2021, reflects a growing understanding on the importance of public education and of the Abidjan Principles. It stresses, for instance, that “[g]overnments increasingly need to focus on regulation and protecting education from commercialisation. Markets should not be permitted to further impede on the achievement of education as a human right. Rather, education must serve the public interests of all.” The Inter-American Principles on Academic Freedom and University Autonomy  recognise the Abidjan Principles as a reference text In December 2021, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), together with the Special Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression and its Special Rapporteurship on Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights issued a Declaration of Inter-American Principles on Academic Freedom and University Autonomy recognising the Abidjan Principles as one of its reference texts. Global Education Monitoring on Non-State Actors recommends to ban or regulate profit and reflects on other Abidjan Principles  An important recommendation of the 2021/2 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, titled “Non-state actors in education. Who Chooses? Who Loses?”  highlights that  “Profit making is inconsistent with the commitment to guarantee free pre-primary, primary and secondary education” and should be regulated or banned. Moreover, many of its resommendations regarding the governance of education systems also reflect the Abidjan Principles. Read also the paper “Human rights to evaluate evidence on non-state involvement in education”  commissioned by the Global Education Monitoring Report as background information to assist in drafting the 2021/2 GEM Report that was developed by Frank Adamson, Delphine Dorsi and Sylvain Aubry.  The paper unpacks how the Abidjan Principles can help define public education, and measure policies against standards on the right to education. Animated video “Education is Ours” reaches unprecented audiences On 18 November 2021, to celebrate World Children’s Day, GI-ESCR launched an animated video on the Abidjan Principles, titled “Education is Ours”. The video, narrated by Kenyan Actress Sarah Hassan, tells the story of three children from Kenya, the USA and Chile and the typical challenges they face in accessing quality education. By the time of writing, the video has been viewed over 75,000 times on YouTube, 18,000 on Instagram, and 761,000 on Facebook! July 2021 In their July 12th episode, the FreshEd Podcast interviewed Frank Adamson on the first human rights guiding principles for education. In the July 14th episode of the Eduquê Podcast, Delphine Dorsi was interviewed on the Abidjan Principles, privatization of education and the right to education on a global scale.     July 2021 On July 27th, at the 2021 Global Education Summit, Oxfam, Action Aid, The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and EACHRights collaborated on an event titled ‘Is Privatisation of Education Really a Solution?’ citing the Abidjan Principles. Watch the event recording here.     September 2021 The Mouvement Ivoirien des Droits Humains (MIDH), supported by GI-ESCR and OSIWA, launched a report on September 7th on the impact of privatisation and commercialisation of education on the right to education in light of the Abidjan Principles. The report shows that the country’s education policies are undermining a range of human rights obligations with a decrease in GDP investment and an increase in privatisation since 1992. The executive summary (in French) can be found here. The above MIDH report was reported on by two french-language newspapers from Côte d’Ivoire (L’infodrome, Abidjan Net) and an Ivorian TV station NCI.     October 2021 COSYDEP, with the support of GI-ESCR and OSIWA, launched a report on privatisation and commercialisation of education in Senegal. The research indicates how education policies in Senegal have fostered private delivery of education, and how the State does not fully comply with its international human rights obligation to provide free, public, quality and accessible education for all.  With over 50 participants in Dakar gathered for the October 5th launching ceremony, GI-ESCR contributed a presentation on the Abidjan Principles; a report of the launch event can be found here in French. The above report was reported on by four french-language Senegalese newspapers (Agence de Presse Sénégalaise, Le Quotidien, Nettali, and SeneWeb). 3rd Anniversary of the Abidjan Principles To celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the adoption of the Abidjan Principles, join an online event on 14 February 2022, 2 pm GMT focusing on the achievements related to the Abidjan Principles and add your voice to a dialogue on profit-making in education. For more details on how to join, look out for more information coming soon on the Abidjan Principles website, and on Twitter via the hashtag #AbidjanPrinciples.   CIES The 66th Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) “Illuminating the Power of Idea/lism” will be held between 18-22 April, 2022 in Minneapolis, following a hybrid format. Two presentations from the panel session titled ”Strengthening Public Education: Tools and Experiences for aligning Education Policies with the Right to Education” will be focusing on the Abidjan Principles. One will be laying out how the normative content of the Abidjan Principles can guide States in their efforts to put in place more coherent education policies for strengthening their public education systems. Another will outline how researchers can use the Abidjan Principles to measure if and how States are implementing and individuals are enjoying the right to education. The session will be held on 20 April 2022. On 18 April, a pre-conference workshop will take place  titled "Strengthening Education in Practice: Using the New Tool of UNESCO-IIEP for aligning Education Planning Documents with Human Rights Law", which will illustrate the use of this new assessment tool or cheklist, that has been developed using the Abidjan Principles. For more information on sessions, browse the conference program here.     An August 2021 opinion piece from The Guardian in Nigeria cites the Abidjan Principles in stating that the increase in education budget still falls short. It further reports that the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) had commended the Federal Government’s plan to increase the yearly budgetary allocation to education, but argued that anything short of the UNESCO recommendation, as amplified in the Abidjan Principles, would not work. An August 2021  opinion piece from a newspaper in Zimbabwe cites the 10 overarching Abidjan Principles to urge more sustainable mechanisms of education funding, prioritising domestic financing sources through such mechanisms as progressive taxation. An October 2021 personal blog post on low-fee private schools cites the Abidjan Principles in concluding that such programs risk continuing the process of underdevelopment and increasing dependency. A November 2021 news article from Liberia reports on a press conference held by The Coalition for Transparency and Accountability in Education (COTAE) concerning the hardship parents and students are currently facing with increased school costs. The Abidjan Principles were cited to highlight states’ obligation to adequately fund and provide public education and regulate the involvement of private actors in the education sector.   A December 2021 an opinion piece on corruption from Qatar cites the Abidjan Principles highlights recommendations from the UN Special Rapporteur on education’s report on Quatar  quoting that the Special Rapporteur underlined principles 2 and 3 of the Abidjan Principles on the definition of the public sector of education and that “Adequate funding of the public sector always remains the priority. Taking note of the educational voucher program, the Special Rapporteur draws the attention of the Government to the substantive and procedural requirements set out in principles 64 to 74 of the Abidjan Principles regarding the funding of private educational institutions, whether direct or indirect.” A June 2021 narrative literature review on The Political Economy of Systems in Conflict-Affected Contexts in a Change World Order, mentions the Abidjan Principles in concluding that “International assistance and cooperation should continue to support the realization of the right to education through its international human rights treaties”. A July 2021 report by the Tax Justice Network titled Tax Justice & Human Rights: The 4 Rs and the realisation of rights cites the Abidjan Principles in a section evaluating the human rights impacts of tax abuse. In July 2021, The National School Boards Association published a research brief on The Impact of Charter Schools; it cites the Abidjan Principles (‘education provision by privately managed and/or operated entities are not “public” schools’) on a section debating whether charter schools are considered public or private entities. In an August 2021 commentary titled ‘A human rights approach: The right to education in the time of COVID-19’, Professor Sandra Fredman references the Abidjan Principles in reaffirming the states’ non-obligation to fund private schools. The Spanish-language version of DAWN Informa, published in August 2021, mentions the Abidjan Principles in their report on public-private partnerships (see here for the English version, published in March). A September 2021 report on Social Rights and the Constituent Moment of Chile: Global and Local Perspectives for the Constitutional Debate includes a section on ‘Constitutionalizing the Abidjan Principles on the right to education: Keys to the Chilean process’. UNESCO’s policy toolbox on equitable and inclusive policies and legislation, updated October 2021, cites the Abidjan Principles in stating that “when the private sector is involved, States must regulate their involvement to ensure that the right to education is respected”. UNESCO’s policy toolbox on insufficient budget for school construction, updated October 2021, suggests to ‘consult and apply’ the Abidjan Principles to find support for external funding when national resources are inadequate; support schemes should be time-bound and transparent, and private sector collaboration should ‘respect’ the Abidjan Principles. An October 2021 OECD ‘tools insights and practices’ article on strategic social purchasing cites the Abidjan Principles for further reading. In October 2021, Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) published its report on Protecting Schools from Military Use. Sections 12 and 14 of the Abidjan Principles were highlighted among other examples of laws, court decisions, military orders, policies, and practices aimed at protecting schools and universities from use for military purposes.  The Graduate Institute of Geneva has made the Abidjan Principles a core reading for their course on Global Governance and Education, in the session on ‘Governing through private sector approaches’.   Copyright (C) 2021 Abidjan Principles. All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in during a consultation on the Abidjan Principles or on the website www.abidjanprinciples.org. Add us to your address book Copyright © 2022 Abidjan Principles, All rights reserved. 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