1. Introduction
As Marists, education is one of the most important fields in which we carry out our mission. The projects financed and supported by BIS want to contribute to making the right to education effective for thousands of children, boys and girls, by supporting the work of Marists, brothers and laypeople, in different countries of the Third World. With the new presence in Geneva, BIS will work to promote this right through the United Nations and by contributing its Marist experience in the precise domain of the education of children and young people.
2. Duties of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education
The Special Rapporteur on the right to education is one of the special mechanisms created by the Commission on Human Rights of the United Nations. When the Commission was replaced by the current Human Rights Council, the latter assumed all the special procedures of the Commission, including this thematic process.
The duties of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education are defined in the 1998/33 resolution of the Commission on Human Rights, adopted on the 17th April 1998. It foresees the presentation of periodical reports to the Commission/Council on the world situation of the right to education, to the access to primary education and the difficulties that exist in the application of this right. In this resolution, it is also noted that the Special Rapporteur must support the governments in the implementation and adoption of action plans to make primary education obligatory and free for all; he must also take into account the question of sex in his report, that is to say, to consider the theme of education of girls and the promotion of the elimination of all forms of discrimination in education. The Rapporteur must also encourage constant dialogue and discuss possible areas of collaboration in education with specialised bodies, international organisations and the international financial institutions: UNICEF, UNESCO, World Bank, etc.
3. Special Rapporteurs on the right to education and the principal themes treated.
It was Ms. Katarina Tomasevski who assumed this mandate for the first time; she was of Croatian nationality, professor of international law at the University of Lund, Sweden. She occupied this post for six years. In 2004, it was Mr Vernor Muñoz, from Costa Rica, who succeeded her. The annual reports that the Rapporteurs have published since 1999 have highlighted different aspects of the situation of the right to education in the world. Among the numerous themes treated, we should note: International policies and their relationship with the financial obstacles that prevent access to primary education (2000); Education and eradication of poverty (2001); Elimination of 3-D obstacles (disability, difficulty and disadvantage) (2002); Overcoming of financial obstacles in education (2003); Exclusion from education for economic reasons or the problem of school fees (2004); Non discrimination in education (2005); Right of girls to education (2006); Rights of the handicapped to inclusive education (2007).
4. Other activities: Visits to countries and urgent appeals
As well as annual reports, the Special Rapporteurs programme visits to certain countries to learn about the situation of the right to education in those countries. Ms. Tomasevski made eight official visits: Uganda and the United Kingdom (1999), the United States of America (2001), Turkey, Indonesia and Northern Ireland (2002), the People’s Republic of China and Colombia (2003). Mr Muñoz has made up until the present three visits: to Botswana (2005), Morocco and Germany (2006). It is hoped that visits can be made to Bolivia, Guatemala, Chad and Malaysia. Throughout these visits, the Special Rapporteur meets with members of different government and non-government organisations to gather information on certain aspects related to education and which will be included in his reports. At the end of each visit, he publishes a report which reflects his personal impressions and pertinent recommendations.
Finally, the Special Rapporteur has the power to launch “urgent appeals” to governments to draw their attention to cases where the right to education is violated in certain countries and in certain situations. These “urgent appeals” can also be addressed jointly with those of another Special Rapporteur when the situation calls for this. Governments are not bound to respond to the letters that the Rapporteurs address to them but when they do it is a sign of the government’s desire to promote dialogue and transparency.
5. The schema of the four As: A conceptual framework for speaking about the right to education.
A short time after having commenced her mandate, Ms. Tomasevski noted that the absence of a common language between the different social agents (governments, international organisations, etc.) was the first obstacle to be resolved in order to guarantee the realisation of the right to education: Availability, Accessibility, Acceptability and Adaptability. These characteristics are not only related to the material needs to be satisfied (that is to say that there are schools in sufficient numbers for all those who need education), but also to the quality of the education and of an education that responds to the true needs of the people. This schema known as the four As has been used since then to try to arrive at a consensus on the theme of education when it is discussed at the international level and to help to implement the programmes in each region and each country.
Education cannot be considered from a utilitarian point of view, as if it was an economic good that can be bought and sold, for that enters into conflict with the aims and the intentions of education reflected in the principal international organs on human rights and that distorts its ultimate end: to contribute to the dignity of human people and to help them to attain their full development.
Br. César Henríquez |
