(Paris, 14 November 2019) The Paris Peace Forum announced yesterday that the Abidjan Principles on the right to education were selected as one of the ten ‘most promising governance projects’ that will be awarded support to scale-up. The Abidjan Principles were selected among 716 projects from 115 countries that applied in the call for projects.
This prestigious selection by the Paris Peace Forum’s Scale-up Committee was based on a range of criteria including the quality of the project and its importance and relevance to current global governance issues.
The chairperson of the committee that drafted the Abidjan Principles, Professor Ann Skelton, reacted: ‘This is a significant recognition of the importance of the right to education, and that with effective tools, human rights law can make a difference in people’s lives.’
According to Salima Namusobya, from the Ugandan organisation Initiative for Economic and Social Rights, ‘the prize adds to the now growing international recognition of the principles and is further validation of the three years’ work done by experts.’
With this achievement, the Abidjan Principles will receive a year of customised support from the Paris Peace Forum throughout 2020.
‘This selection will help elevate the Abidjan Principles as a powerful advocacy tool for realising the right to education’, said Rubeena Parker from the Equal Education Law Centre in South Africa.
Sylvain Aubry, from the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, said: ‘The recognition of the value of the Abidjan Principles by the Paris Peace Forum is an important step that builds on the growing momentum we have seen in the last months to put the right to education back at the core of education debates.’
‘We look forward to working with the incredible network of diverse leaders that the Paris Peace Forum engages with’ reacted Delphine Dorsi, from the Right to Education Initiative.
‘We are fully committed to working on the Abidjan Principles until the right to education is a reality everywhere, and we are very excited about the support this could provide’ concluded Solomon Sacco, from Amnesty International.
The Abidjan Principles on the human rights obligations of States to provide public education and to regulate private involvement in education were adopted in February 2019 by over 50 eminent experts on the right to education. This landmark text unpacks existing human rights law regarding the obligations of States to provide public education and to regulate private involvement in education. It is quickly becoming one of the key reference instruments on the right to education, receiving endorsements by civil society organisations and recognition by a range of African and United Nations agencies.
The Paris Peace Forum is an annual international event that pushes forward innovative solutions to tackle global challenges.
Signatories:
Amnesty International
Equal Educational Law Centre
Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Initiative for Social and Economic Rights
Right to Education Initiative
Contacts:
Solomon Sacco (EN), Deputy Director, Law and Policy Programme, Amnesty International: solomon.sacco@amnesty.org
Rubeena Parker (EN), Head of Research, Equal Education Law Centre: rubeena@eelawcentre.org.za
Sylvain Aubry (FR/EN), Legal and Policy Adviser, Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: +254 7 88 28 96 34 / +33 7 81 70 81 96 / sylvain@gi-escr.org
Salima Namusobya (EN), Executive Director, Initiative for Social and Economic Rights: dir@iser-uganda.org
Delphine Dorsi (FR/EN/ES), Director, Right to Education Initiative: delphine.dorsi@right-to-education.org