This document lists the international instruments that protect the right to education in emergencies.

 

Este documento enumera los instrumentos internacionales que protegen el derecho a la educación en situaciones de emergencia.

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This legal factsheet accompanies the Right to Education Initiative’s multimedia essay Caught in the crossfire: The right to education in eastern Ukraine. It has been made available for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. 

Joint statement made by GI-ESCR and the Right to Education Initiative at the 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council in July 2020 welcoming the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the right to education. The statement emphasised her call for States to prioritise the funding and delivery of free, quality, public education, and implement minimum standards to secure the privacy and data protection for learners and teachers.

 
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This paper was commissioned by the Global Education Monitoring Report as background information to assist in drafting the 2019 GEM Report, Migration, displacement and education: Building bridges, not walls.

In 2017, there were an estimated 258 million people living outside their country of origin. Of them, about 30 million were school-aged. Migrants include different groups such as refugees, asylum seekers, migrant workers, stateless, undocumented migrants and internal displaced persons. The right to education of migrants, irrespective of their legal or migration status, is guaranteed under international law on the basis of the human rights principles of equality and non-discrimination. The main treaties guaranteeing the right to education apply to all migrants. In addition, migrant-specific treaties include provisions on the right to education. This international legal framework applies only to the extent that states have committed to it. At national level, migrants face legal and practical barriers to effectively enjoying their right to education. Some states show good examples of protecting the right to education of migrants in law and in practice.

 

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This monitoring guide is designed to help civil society organisations monitor education under attack from a human rights perspective. It will guide you through:

I: the importance of monitoring

II: give you advice on what to look for and how to collect data

III: provide you with a list of indicators you might want to look at

IV: give recommendations on how and who to report to when identifying violations of the right to education. 

It is part of a series of thematic guidance notes providing practical advice on monitoring various aspects of the right to education from a human rights perspective. These guides are based on, and supplement, the Right to Education Initiative’s right to education monitoring guide, which provides a human rights framework for monitoring education and education-related issues, as well as our experiences across various monitoring initiatives that we have undertaken with partners from all over the world. 

See also the sister publication: Education Under Attack: a guidance note for journalists and photographers 

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Changes in the media market after the end of the cold war, the development of new technologies and the hindering consequences of multiple economic crises have strengthened collaboration between journalists, photographers, videographers, and NGOs. Media reporting on conflict zones can play an enhanced role in helping civil society organisations (CSOs) to document attacks on education and CSO knowledge and connections could help journalists uncover important stories from the front lines. 

This brief encourages a systematic collaboration focused on collecting and sharing data that may help advance the right to education in emergency situations. It is part of a Right to Education Initiative (RTE) series of briefs designed to help civil society organisations monitor and advocate for the right to education, such as the guide on Monitoring Education Under Attack from a Human Rights Perspective.

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Documenting the impact of conflict on education is a complex, time consuming and often dangerous process, whose consequences may be difficult to witness. Inthis context, the relationship between journalists and civil society organisations (CSOs) can be incredibly fruitful. They often share a common aim: to make the world aware of attacks on education and their immense costs to individuals, to communities, and across entire generations. Journalist-CSO partnerships can shed light on injustices, tell powerful human stories, and lead to redress and lasting change for those who have suffered. They can also have powerful mutual benefits; CSOs may receive reports of attacks on education or military use of facilities, while journalists can gain greater access to conflict zones and affected parties.
 
This brief provides insight from a roundtable discussion held between journalists and CSOs in September 2021, providing five lessons for effective collaboration which brings benefits to journalists, CSOs, and affected communities.