Economic and SocialCouncil NATIONS

Distr.

GENERAL

E/C.12/2002/SA/4

19 March 2002

ORIGINAL : ENGLISH

COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL

AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

28th session

29 April-17 May 2002

Item 3 of the provisional agenda

SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES ARISING IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

Follow-up to the Committee’s Day of General Discussion on Right to Education (article 13 of the Covenant) and to the World Education Forum(Dakar, April 2000), organized in co-operation with UNESCO

Friday, 10th May 2002, 15.00-18.00h

PREPARATION OF UNESCO’S MONITORING REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE

DAKAR FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION AND POSSIBLE CONTRIBUTION BY CESCR IN

DEVELOPING CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK.

Document submitted by UNESCO*

---------------------------

*Reproduced as received

GE.02-40854

Introduction

1.UNESCO’s Constitution provides that “Each Member state shall submit to the Organization, at such time and in such manner as shall be determined by the General Conference, reports on laws, regulations and statistics relating to its educational, scientific and cultural institutions and activities, and on the action taken upon the recommendations and conventions (….)”.(Article VIII). Thus, the Organization monitors the implementation of a number of standard-setting that it has elaborated relating to the right to education. In this context, EFA 2000 Assessment presented the results of a decade long efforts in the implementation of the World Declaration on Education for All: Meeting Basic Learning Needs (1990). It showed that despite an expansion in the education system, the disparities observed in access and quality are on an unprecedented scale.

2.The international community made a collective commitment at the World Education Forum (Dakar, April, 2000) to realise before the year 2015 basic education for all as a fundamental human right. Effective implementation of the Dakar Framework for Action adopted at the World Education Forum is indeed one the biggest moral challenges of our times and requires monitoring in keeping with the provisions of article VIII of UNESCO’s Constitution, mentioned above. As a co-ordinating agency for this global movement, UNESCO has assumed even greater responsibility in the field of the right to education. The Organization has, therefore, readjusted its education programme so as to focus on the Dakar objectives and priorities for achieving basic education for all, according high importance to monitoring the implementation of the Dakar goals.

Monitoring provisions and mechanism in the Dakar Framework for Action

The governments, organizations, agencies, groups and associations represented at the World Education Forum declared that they “will strengthen accountable international and regional mechanisms to give clear expression to these commitments”. In order to achieve the goals set by the Dakar Framework for Action, they pledged themselves to a strategy, inter alia, to: “systematically monitor progress towards EFA goals and strategies at the national, regional and international levels”; (para. 8 xi) and to “build on existing mechanisms to accelerate progress towards education for all” (para. xii). Moreover, the Dakar Framework for Action stipulates that “Political will and stronger national leadership are needed for the effective and successful implementation of national plans in each of the countries concerned”. (Para. 10).

In line with UNESCO’s overall responsibility for co-ordinating the efforts of the international community for the realisation of the objectives of Dakar Framework for Action, monitoring developments in the implementation of its objectives is critically important. In a broader perspective, this must be linked to UNESCO’s wide-ranging normative action. It must also be linked the way the implementation of the standard-setting instruments adopted by the United Nations is monitored.

Linking the Implementation to the Dakar Framework for Action to the Work of the United Nations Treaty Bodies and to the Implementation of other UN Instruments

5.Monitoring the follow-up to the Dakar Framework for Action and developments related to the right to education must be seen in the context of the work of the relevant United Nations Treaty Bodies, notably the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). It must also be seen in the context of (monitoring) reports the implementation of the relevant United Nations declarations.

UNESCO co-operates with the Committee on the Rights of the Child in monitoring the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). The Organization contributed in the process of elaborating the General Comment No.1 (2001) on Article 29 (1) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the Committee. This General Comment that “The child’s right to education is not only a matter of access but also of content” It reflects fully UNESCO’s concern, especially in view of the Dakar Framework for Action. UNESCO looks forward to working with the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The United Nations Secretary General’s Report (September 2001) on the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children , adopted at the World Summit for Children 1991, presents a critical appraisal of the progress achieved in the implementation of the Plan of Action for the Declaration, specially the challenges that lie ahead in universalizing access to basic education. It also depicts trends and the lessons learnt, linking these to the objectives and goals of the Dakar Framework for Action, wherever appropriate . The Report would thus be useful as regards the reflection on the importance of the follow up to the Dakar Framework for Action in the forthcoming General Assembly Special Session on Children in May 2002 in formulating the programme of action.

The implementation of the UN General Assembly Resolutions containing provisions on the right to education is also pertinent to the follow up to the Dakar Framework for Action. Thus, the UN General Assembly Resolution 56/116 on ‘United Nations Decade Literacy Decade: education for all’ (adopted on 19 December 2001) urges Member States, in close partnership with international organizations as well as non-governmental organizations “to promote the right to education for all and to create conditions for all for learning throughout life”, while recognizing that persisting major problems require even more forceful and concerted action at the national and international levels so as to achieve the goal of education for all. Monitoring the implementation of the Dakar Framework for Action is closely linked with the proposed Plan of Action for the United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012), especially as this would reinforce the conceptual and legal bases of basic education for all as a fundamental human right, as reaffirmed by the Dakar Framework for Action.

The resolution 2001/29, entitled ‘ the right to education ’ adopted by the UN Commission on Human Rights on 20 april 2001 welcomes “the Dakar framework for action adopted at the world education forum held in Dakar in April 2000, and the goals agreed upon at its adoption”. The follow-up to this resolution would contribute to the right to education as the resolution calls upon the States to “ensure progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity that primary education is compulsory, accessible and available to all”(para. 3 ). This resolution reiterates invitation to unicef and to UNESCO “to submit to the Commission information pertaining to their activities in promoting primary education, with specific reference to women and children, particularly girls.

UNESCO and UNICEF co-operate a spirit of recognizing and benefiting from each other’s strengths and comparative advantages and share concern to meet the basic educational needs of children and their families. importance of UNESCO’s normative action in the context of the follow-up to the Dakar Framework is recognized in the Framework Agreement between UNESCO and UNICEF on Collaboration in the Field of Education, of 9 February 1999, which sets out the main areas of collaboration on the basis of the commitments and interests shared by the two organizations. Consultations between them on the follow-up to the Dakar Framework for Action focused on their respective strengths: “UNESCO, with its mandate to take on a leading, normative role” is well placed to “promote policy discussions around basic education; set standards for principles of action and indicators of assessment; engage in high-level advocacy; strengthen partnerships with other EFA actors(…). The UNESCO/UNICEF Joint Committee on Education (JCE), established in 1989 addresses recommendations to draw the attention to new challenges and important trends in those areas.

“The 10-Year United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI)” which was launched by the United Nations Secretary-General at the World Education Forum in Dakar in April 2000, is a coherent United Nations system-wide collaborative programme led by UNICEF to improve the quality and level of girls’ education and to eliminate gender bias and discrimination in education. Within the framework of UNGEI, UNESCO has made efforts to ensure that gender-related components are included in National EFA Plans. The role of UNESCO is to support UNGEI and, wherever possible, to influence leaders to make commitments in favour of gender equality in education. UNESCO has prepared a working document on Gender Equality in Basic Education – Strategic Framework, with special reference to non-formal education for girls and women”. Particular attention is focused on issue of access and equity concerning girls’ opportunities for primary schooling.

12.Action in this respect would be strengthened as a follow up to the United Nations Millennium Declaration. In this Declaration, it is resolved to “ensure that (…) children everywhere, boys and girls, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling and that girls and boys will have equal access to all levels of education” by 2015.

Monitoring the Implementation of the Right to Basic Education for All and UNESCO’s collaboration with the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)

UNESCO has developed, particularly since 1999, closer collaboration with CESCR. Both UNESCO and CESCR have shared concerns and common objectives for promoting the right to education and achieving Education For All (EFA) goals. The General Comment No. 13 on Article 13 (right to education) of the International Covenant, elaborated by CESCR in co-operation with UNESCO, bears evidence to their collaborative spirit. It draws on the normative instruments and experience of UNESCO and specifically mentions the right to basic education for all as recognized by the World Declaration on Education for All (1990).

The monitoring role of CESCR covers the right to education, as set out in Articles 13 and 14 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Under the provisions of Article 16 § 1 of the International Covenant, the States have the obligation to submit reports on the measures which they have adopted and the progress made in achieving the observance of the rights recognized in the Covenant. These reports are examined by the CESCR in its periodic session, through a dialogue with the state party to the International Covenant. CESCR) thus is entrusted with the task of monitoring states parties’ compliance

with their obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), including the right to education as enshrined in the Covenant.

The CESCR attaches importance to the follow up to the Dakar Framework for Action, acknowledging that it “corresponds with major preoccupations” of its own as it is linked with the implementation of Articles 13 and 14 of the International Covenant. What is commendable is that since the World Education Forum (April 2001), CESCR has begun to have a dialogue with the State Parties to the International Covenant while examining their country reports on the status of the preparation of the national action plans, anticipated by the Dakar Framework and how they propose to implement these Plans.

UNESCO has also started sharing with CESCR information on the implementation of UNESCO’s normative instruments relating to the right to education, in particular, developments relating to the follow up to the Dakar Framework for Action. As a result, UNESCO’s collaboration with CESCR has grown significantly. CESCR is specially most willing in working together with UNESCO for giving follow up to the Dakar Framework for Action and to strengthen “practical and especific ways” in which to accomplish common objectives, even as UNESCO realises the importance of collaborative work, with the“the hope that this will impart synergy to our common endeavour in monitoring and promoting the right to education in all its dimensions”.

As a follow up to this correspondence, the Informal Meeting on Monitoring the Right to Education: Dialogue between the Committee on Conventions and Recommendations (CR) and the Chairperson of CESCR was organized at UNESCO Headquarter on 21 May 2001. This dialogue took place on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the first anniversary of the Dakar Framework for Action and led to fruitful and instructive exchange of experience and ideas. It initiated the process for developing practical approaches and mutually reinforcing working methods in monitoring the implementation of the right to education in all its dimensions. Emphasis was placed on the complementarity of the work of UNESCO and CESCR. The dialogue afforded UNESCO the opportunity to share with CESCR recent developments, including the working methods of CESCR, especially with a view to achieving the right to basic education for all, to which CESCR gives priority as well.

18.It is significant to note that the propositions by CESCR on the occasion of one day discussion on Substantive Issues arising in the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, organized on 7 May 2001 during the 25th Session of CESCR commends UNESCO’s work and states that CESCR shares UNESCO’s major preoccupations for promoting the right to basic education for all and in that spirit, the follow-up to the Dakar Framework for Action.

19.The work of CESCR illustrates how monitoring the right to education as enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) relates to the implementation of the Dakar Framework for Action.

Working methods of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) for Monitoring the implementation of the Right to Education

States that have chosen to ratify the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) are obliged to progressively realise the enumerated rights, subject to the availability of resources, among which the right to education is indeed of fundamental importance.

Every five years, each state party is obliged to submit a report to the Committee. Many states go to a lot of trouble and prepare excellent reports running to hundreds of pages. These reports cover all the rights in the Covenant and explain what the state is doing to implement the right to education (articles 13 and 14 of the International Covenant).

The Committee sets aside one to one and a half days to consider the report, in public session, with the state. The state usually sends a delegation from the capital to discuss the report with Committee members. The delegation is often headed by a Minister and may number fifteen or more governmental representatives. Committee members ask the delegation questions; the delegation does its best to reply – thus, a ‘constructive dialogue’ takes place. The Committee’s over-arching role is to help the state better implement its legally binding obligations under the Covenant.

At the end of this public process, the Committee goes into private session and agrees on ‘Concluding Observations’ about the state. Once agreed in private among Committee members, these Concluding Observations are then made public. The Observations give credit to the state for any progress it has made. They acknowledge the obstacles the state is encountering e.g. the introduction of a structural adjustment programme. They identify the Committee’s particular concerns e.g. low-levels of literacy or discrepancies between primary school enrolment rates for girls and boys. And they make sensible recommendations and suggestions. A prominent role is given to UNESCO in the Concluding Observations, recommending to Governments further action in this respect.

Five years after the Committee’s constructive dialogue and the adoption of its Concluding Observations, the cycle repeats itself, enabling the Committee to check the progress made by the state in question.

It is highly significant to enhance the growing co-operation between UNESCO and CESCR for monitoring developments in the field of the right to education with a focus on the follow up to the Dakar Framework for Action . This would be propitious as a follow up to the resolution on economic, social and cultural rights adopted by the UN Commission on Human Rights in April 2001. The Commission decided “to encourage all UN specialized agencies and programmes whose activities bear upon economic, social and cultural rights to enhance their co-operation and increase co-ordination with the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in a manner which respects their distinctive mandates and promotes their policies, programmes and projects”. By the same token, the resolution also enjoins the Committee to enhance “its co-operation with United Nations specialized agencies, programmes and other bodies working on issues that bear upon the Covenant”.

UNESCO and CESCR have recently begun to work together in a mutually supportive way. This co-operation is now becoming institutionalised in the wake of the recent decision by the Executive Board of UNESCO to establish a Joint UNESCO/CESCR Expert Group on the Right to Education. This will enable both of them to collaborate even more closely in realistic and practical ways for the realisation of the right to education as a fundamental human right.

Follow up to the Dakar Framework for Action and Monitoring Report on EFA

The Dakar Framework for Action called for a Monitoring Report to inform the deliberations of the High-Level Group as part of their role in “holding the global community to account for commitments made in Dakar”. UNESCO, therefore, recognizes that “Monitoring the state of basic education in the world plays a key role in UNESCO’s Action Plan”.

A first, and preliminary Monitoring Report on Education for All, 2001 was prepared by UNESCO in collaboration with major EFA partners, notably UNICEF and the World Bank, as the key document at the High-Level Group Meeting, which UNESCO’s Director-General convened at UNESCO Headquarter in October 2001. It presents the progress of the EFA movement, particularly by highlighting important trends and findings. It is a valuable tool for advocacy and information sharing purposes. It also depicts problems and prospects for achieving the right to education. “It is now urgent than ever for the community of nations to redouble their efforts to work as partners towards the day when Education for All is translated from a seemingly distant dream to a reality for every child, young person and adult. Basic education is not only a “fundamental human right” for every individual; it is, as the Dakar Framework for Action puts it, key to sustainable development and peace and stability among nations”.

The Communiqué issued at the end of the first meeting of the High Level Group calls upon all EFA partners to redouble their efforts to meet the goals and targets of Education for All. It states that an authoritative, analytical, annual EFA Monitoring Report should be produced drawing upon national data — quantitative and qualitative — and assessing the extent to which both countries and the international community are meeting their Dakar commitments.

Keeping in view the recommendations of the High Level Group, UNESCO consulted key partners to discuss how the Monitoring Report can best be prepared, managed and resourced. The First meeting of the Editorial Board for Monitoring Report on Education for All, organized for this purpose in January 2002 at UNESCO Headquarter, Paris, recommended that the Monitoring Report should set EFA in the wider context of sustainable development. It should aim to create awareness, induce change and alert the world to

the critical issues, bottlenecks and problems in EFA progress and serve as an advocacy tool, based on a rigorous analytical approach.

31.It was also recommended that the Monitoring Report must include progress on all six Dakar goals in each edition. In 2002 it should in addition report on progress in the preparation of national EFA plans, and an attempt should be made to assess the nature and extent of political commitment to EFA. The 2002 report must be cast in the framework of assessing how far we have come in the two years since Dakar. The Monitoring Report, which should be authentic, independent, and authoritative, should present analysis — it should have a prescriptive, not merely descriptive role. The Report should act as an early warning system in order to identify potential points of challenge and difficulty in EFA

32.The main responsibility for collection, analysis, and interpretation of data on the six Dakar goals has been entrusted to the UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics (UIS). The Institute has set up the EFA Observatory. Its objectives include: (1) Collection, analysis and dissemination of up-to-date information on the state of education required by countries, regions and the international community to monitoring progress towards the goal of EFA; (2) provide regular assessments to help governments develop, review and amend national policies as necessary to ensure that the EFA goals are achieved in all countries as soon as possible; (3) Develop statistical systems in order to provide ‘early warnings’ of possible failure to attain the long-term targets; (4) Develop interim targets positioned at carefully calculated intervals so that interim monitoring can take place and appropriate interventions can be implemented quickly and effectively. The Institute will develop an “EFA development index” that will bring together several pertinent indicators as regards progress towards the objective of Education for All; new indicators will be developed, making it possible to tackle more precisely questions of quality, results, etc. ». There is need for “new procedures for collecting additional data to measure educational quality” and “to fine-tune existing EFA Indicators to the diverse needs of developing countries”.

Although 18 Core EFA Indicators which were developed for the purpose of EFA 2000 Assessment may continue to be used for monitoring, there will be a need for more for the purposes of the annual Monitoring Report — on the progress of national plans, flagships, political commitment, the role of donors and so on. There was agreement on the three categories of indicators presented by UIS:

established indicators which are working satisfactorily, e.g. enrolment indicators

existing indicators which need further work, e.g. literacy indicators

indicators to be developed, e.g. on educational quality.

The purpose of the Annual EFA Monitoring Report (to be prepared by UNESCO, with inputs from EFA partners, under the guidance of the Working Group on EFA), is to provide an account of the progress that countries and support agencies have achieved towards the goal of EFA, as well as to highlight important trends and findings and to point to future actions. This Report is also intended to share information with partners, organizations and other stakeholders involved in the implementation of EFA.

It is significant that the First Meeting of the Editorial Board for Monitoring Report on Education for All emphasized the importance of “the Rights-based approach”: two aspects will need to be covered: 1) how far is the human right of access to education being fulfilled, and 2) how far are human rights being taught through the values presented in educational processes and systems?

36.Collaborating work by CESCR and UNESCO on monitoring the developments in the right to education would enable to explore further the right-based approach which deserves full attention as well as the concept of education as common good. In this respect, it is pertinent to bear in mind Part III of the General Comment No. 13 on article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, elaborated by the UN Committee

on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in collaboration with UNESCO entitled “Obligation of Actors other than State Parties”. It provides that “When examining the reports of States parties, the Committee will consider the effects of the assistance provided by all actors other than States parties on the ability of States to meet their obligations under article 13. The adoption of a human rights-based approach by United Nations specialized agencies, programmes and bodies will greatly facilitate implementation of the right to education”..

Issues for Discussion

37.Contribution by CESCR to the preparation of future Monitoring Reports on the Right to Education, especially right-based approach, will be vital. This will make it possible for UNESCO to benefit from the rich experience CESCR possesses in this field. This will also be significant in the context of the work of the UNESCO/CESCR Joint Expert Group, whose coming into being will institutionalise the collaboration between CESCR and UNESCO.

38.Among the serious questions to be addressed, enabling the marginalized and under-privileged sections of society, especially girls and residents of remote rural areas, to exercise their right to education, is indeed a challenging task. How to give impetus to mass social mobilisation campaigns and advocacy measures, involving more actively civil society, for promoting the right to education?

39.The Dakar Framework for Action refers to the right to basic education for all as a fundamental human right and to primary education that is free, compulsory and of good quality. Can UNESCO/CESCR jointly with EFA partners agree on a universal definition of quality and in that framework to develop indicators for measuring quality education? In this respect, it may be mentioned that at an Informal Expert Consultation, organized at UNESCO Headquarter in March 2001, experts recommended that the possibility of UNESCO/CESCR adopting consistent right to education indicators as well as a common understanding of key concepts (such as 'basic education', 'quality education' etc) be explored.