During this 53rd session of the HRC, OIDEL organized a meeting with the NGO Platform on the Right to Education (RtE), took the floor during the interactive dialogue with the new Special Rapporteur (SR) on the RtE, and actively participated in the informal consultations on the RtE. Additionally, OIDEL’s director Ignasi Grau took the floor during the interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert (IE) on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) and was invited as a panellist to one of the side events.

Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education

During this session of the HRC, the new Special Rapporteur, Farida Shaheed presented her first report. As this year marks the 25th Anniversary of the mandate, the report analyses the key achievements and challenges of the past 25 years and the emerging issues that will be addressed in the near future.

As the coordinator of the NGO Platform on the Right to Education, OIDEL organized a meeting with the SR to pose questions, make comments and have a discussion on the report. Ms. Shaheed also shared her planned country visits (Hungary and Finland) and the topics of her future reports (teachers, curriculum and assessment, academic freedom, and safety).

Interactive Dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education

The report on the RtE was presented on the 27th of June during the interactive dialogue with the SR on the RtE. OIDEL was the first NGO to take the floor. Josyane Zingg, on behalf of OIDEL and 6 co-signing NGOs, expressed her appreciation for the SR’s openness to collaborate with civil society. Ms. Zingg highlighted that in times of uncertainty and turmoil, governments tend to control speech and content and, in the field of education, they tend to restrict the space between authorities and children. This affects non-mainstream groups in particular. Therefore, Ms. Zingg raised the question, “How can we build trust among the different actors of the educational community?”. Ms. Shaheed answered by saying, “I think you can only do that if all the actors present believe that peaceful, inclusive societies benefits all of us and promotes human rights for all.”

Interactive Dialogue with the IE on SOGI

The report presented by Victor Madrigal-Borloz examines the intersection between freedom of religion or belief and protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In the report, the IE on SOGI suggests that new obligations should be imposed on faith-based institutions (including schools) such as “diversity-oriented education [and] comprehensive sexual education”. OIDEL’s director, Ignasi Grau, took the floor to ask, “With what has been stated in this report, what autonomy is left for faith-based institutions?”

Co-signatures

OIDEL has co-sponsored one OS in the interactive dialogue with the SR on the RtE and one other in the dialogue with the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity.

Side Event “Education for All”

OIDEL director, Ignasi Grau, was invited as a panellist to the side event “Experience-sharing on the Promotion of the Right to Education for All” organized by the Permanent Mission of Thailand. Among the panellists were also Sihasak Phuangketkeow (President of the Human Rights Council in 2011) and Yao Ydo (Director of UNESCO-IBE).

Reflecting on the conception of the right to education after WWII, Mr. Grau highlighted the trust of the international community in the human being. They were so confident in human nature that they acknowledge parents as the first educator, instead of the State. This led to Article 26.3 of the UDHR stating, “Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.” But where did this confidence and trust go? Mr. Grau explained the reasons for the decrease in trust and made suggestions on how this trust can be re-established. Please find his intervention below.

Informal Consultation of the Resolution on the Right to Education

OIDEL followed the informal discussions of different resolutions and was particularly active in the informal discussions on the right to education where we advocated for a common good approach throughout the discussions.