Director-General of UNESCO,

Excellencies,

Distinguished Participants,

It is a pleasure to be here with you today at such an important forum which addresses issues of high relevance to the promotion and protection of the human right to education. I am particularly pleased with the choice of this year’s theme, that is: “Inclusive Education”. This is an approach that underscores the centrality of non-discrimination in access to education for all, as well as its potential to empower individuals and improve the welfare of whole communities.

I know first hand the benefits of access to education, as well as the effects that obstacles to such access produce. I was sixteen when I wrote an essay which dealt with the role of South African women in educating children on human rights. When the essay was published, my community raised funds in order to send this promising, but impecunious, young woman to university. Despite their efforts and good will, I almost didn't make it as a lawyer, because when I entered university during the apartheid regime everything and everyone was segregated. The registrar actually discouraged me from becoming a lawyer. He argued that I could not expect white secretaries to take instructions from a person of my background. However, I persevered. After my graduation, I sought an internship, which was mandatory under the law; but then as a black woman, I had to fight against multi-layered forms of discrimination and barriers. Finally, it was a black lawyer who agreed to take me on board, but first he made me promise that I would not become pregnant. And when I started a law practice on my own it was not out of choice, but because nobody would employ a black woman lawyer.

In short, it is personal experience as much as conviction that prompts me to reaffirm that education is both a human right in itself, as well as an indispensable instrument for achieving many other rights, whether civil, cultural, economic, political, or social. Let us simply reflect on the value of education in securing work, the positive impact of education on health, or the decisive role which education plays in achieving equality between women and men.

On the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this December 10, let us celebrate the fact that—at least in principle and law—education has become universally accepted as a fundamental human right. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides the most comprehensive articulation of the substantive contents of the right to education for all. Its normative framework finds a powerful echo in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Moreover, the right to education is recognized as such also in regional instruments, as well as national constitutions.

Such legal architecture imposes precise obligations on States. It also offers well defined cross-cutting principles which the international human rights protection machinery further developed and clarified.

Allow me, therefore, to refer to some of the substantive contents of Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which outlines the responsibilities of States in relation to primary, secondary and higher education as well as fundamental education. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has clearly enunciated that education in all its forms and at all levels shall exhibit the following interrelated and essential features: availability, accessibility (that is, physical, economic and non-discriminatory access), acceptability and adaptability.

When considering the appropriate application of these interrelated and essential features, the best interests of the student shall be a primary consideration. This also means that education must be available and accessible to all without discrimination based on gender, age, ethnic origin, social status, nationality, disability, or illness, including HIV/AIDS. In this inclusive perspective, the real priority of education focuses on the needs of the students.

To transform these principles into a reality for all, we must never lower our guard in ensuring that a human rights lens informs the crafting and enforcing of educational laws, policies and programs at the national level at all times. Applying human rights standards and principles to education helps us to overcome or remove the barriers that cause exclusion and discriminatory practices.

Thus, let me point out that, when focusing on realizing the right to education for all, more attention should be devoted Article 13 (1) of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This article defines States’ obligation of realizing the core purpose of education, that is, the achievement of the full development of the human personality and sense of dignity. Its objective is to enable everyone’s participation in a free society, while promoting understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnic or religious groups.

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors the Convention on the Rights of the Child, used similar words when it stated in one of its General Comments that the education of the child shall be aimed at developing the child's personality and talents, cultural identity, language and values, and to prepare the child for a responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin. CRC, General Comment No.1of 2001

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Yet despite this clear articulation of the right to education’s content and its global endorsement, a large part of the world’s population still remains excluded from enjoying the right to education. According to UNESCO, more than 70 million children and almost 800 millions adults are the victims of such exclusion. The actual fact that a majority of them are women and girls starkly illustrates gender inequality, together with the fact that the global community has failed to achieve the third Millennium development goal of having an equal proportion of boys and girls in school by 2005.

Persons with disabilities also disproportionally suffer the brunt of educational exclusion. The situation of persons belonging to ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities, as well as of indigenous people is also of serious concern.

In the face of such challenges, we need to rethink the way in which we conceive education and how we implement learning programs. We need to change the way we plan and deliver them. We need to transform our education systems, schools and learning centers and make them accessible to, and equipped for, persons with special needs and those who face societal obstacles and prejudices.

In the case of women and girls, for example, discrimination and violence are the main obstacles hindering their access to the education system, and often leading to their early drop-out from the system. In fact, it is recognized that the school is the most common place where sexual harassment and coercion are experienced and where violence against girls is a global, multi-faceted phenomenon. WHO , World Report on Violence and Health, 2002 and Amnesty International, Safe Schools: Every girl’s right” report (March 2008) UNESCO has found that rates of abuse are even higher for girls with disabilities. UNESCO, Education for All, Global Monitoring Report, 2003/4, Gender and Education for All: The Leap to Equality, p. 134 Other aspects of girls’ identity, including whether they are migrants, orphans or refugees, as well as their HIV status, caste, ethnicity and race, also increase the risk of abuse and shape the nature of the violence they experience. Policies excluding pregnant adolescents from the regular school system are also regrettably common in many countries.

Yet, time and again it has been proven that investing in girls’ education is not only a way to ensuring respect for their human rights, but also one of the most effective approaches to achieve equality, and thus reduce poverty, and contribute to the welfare and betterment of whole communities and nations.

Let me now go back to the issue of persons with disabilities. As is all too often the case, even when these persons gain access to education, they not only face an inadequate physical environment, but also segregationist educational policies steeped in prejudice.

In light of these considerations, I cannot overemphasize that the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which entered into force last May, recognizes the right of persons with disabilities to be included in the general education system, to have access to free and compulsory primary education, as well as to secondary and higher education without discrimination. Furthermore, the convention provides guidance to States and other actors on how to make their educational system inclusive. For example, under the convention, States are required to take measures to facilitate the learning of sign language, of Braille, and other alternative modes, means and forms of communication. It affirms the obligation of training and employing qualified teachers and of providing all the support required to facilitate persons with disabilities’ effective education.

In the same vein, allow me also to bring to your attention the distinct challenges that people belonging to ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities and indigenous groups have to confront as groups least integrated into national education systems. Their levels of access to adequate education services are well below national averages. Minorities and indigenous peoples all over the world face several barriers in accessing education equally, including a lack of mother-tongue education; poor provision of schools and qualified teachers in the regions where they live; prohibitive costs of school fees that disproportionately affect them as the poorest groups; and curricula that do not reflect community priorities for learning; and discrimination by teachers and/or pupils.

Let me underscore that the concept of inclusive education goes well beyond the issues of access. Educational measures should make it possible for minorities and indigenous peoples to appreciate and further develop their culture, language, customs and traditions and for majorities to obtain knowledge of the history, traditions, language and culture of the minorities and indigenous peoples. States need to promote the right of minorities and indigenous peoples to active participation in the design, implementation and development of educational systems and programs. They must also respect the right of minorities and indigenous peoples, if they so wish, to establish their own education systems and institutions which provide education in their own languages and in a manner appropriate to indigenous and minority cultures and learning methods.
Distinguished Participants,

Access to education is a right, and education in human rights is a collective endeavour which requires our constant attention and efforts. There is no doubt that human rights education promotes participatory teaching and learning, and thus an inclusive and non discriminatory environment for all. In turn, respect for diversity fosters social cohesion and accommodation of different views and experiences, thereby preventing communal strife.

I am pleased to report that the central role played by human rights education has found substantive echo in various intergovernmental frameworks aiming at the development of sustainable national strategies and programmes. In December 2004, the United Nations General Assembly launched a multi-phased World Programme for Human Rights Education. The first phase, covering the period 2005-2009, focuses on the primary and secondary school systems. A related Plan of Action proposes a concrete strategy and practical ideas for integrating human rights education in the national education system and touches upon its various components, including policy development, policy implementation measures, teaching and learning processes and tools, education and professional development of personnel and the learning environment.

As we approach the end of the first phase of the World Programme, we need to take stock of what has been achieved in each country. We especially need to identify which areas need to be tackled more vigorously, and with commensurate determination, to close promotion and protection gaps in access to learning and to human rights education.

In concluding, I would like to take this opportunity to urge all authorities and institutions to take concrete steps in the area of inclusive education, as an indispensible precondition to the realization of human rights. This is our common responsibility. Its achievement will depend entirely on the contribution that each and every one of us is willing to make.

Thank you.