Right to Education
Ensure equitable and inclusive quality education and lifelong learning for all by 2030.
Education is a fundamental human right and occupies a central place in human rights, as it is a right in itself and indispensable for the exercise of all other human rights. As an empowerment right, education is the primary vehicle by which marginalized children, young people and adults can lift themselves out of poverty and participate fully in communities and society.
Inspired by the moral foundations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right to education is enshrined in a number of instruments. The right to education has been strongly affirmed in international law, most importantly in the Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960).
The World Education Forum (2000) reaffirmed education as a fundamental human right, and set objectives for achieving EFA goals based upon political commitments by the international community to achieve the right to basic education for all. The Millenium Declaration (2000) affirmed by world leaders the same year and reaffirmed at the UN Summit in 2005 form an agenda for reducing poverty and improving lives. Two of them echo EFA goals 2 and 5: MDG 2 and MDG 3.
WEF-2015 will take stock of what has been achieved since 2000 and build the path to Education for All to 2030.
Related links
- Global Database on the Right to Education Global Database
- UNESCO’s work on the Right to Education
- Global report on Out-of-school children
- UNESCO eAtlas series with separate editions on literacy, teachers and out-of-school children
- All in School, the global initiave on out-of-school children
