On 18 March 2015, France became the 20th State party to the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The Right to Education Project welcomes France's ratification to the Optional Protocol, along with the recent ratifications of Italy and Luxembourg, as an important step in increasing the justiciability of the right to education at the international level.

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The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Sciences Po Paris Human Rights Clinic, and the Right to Education Project are convening a public conference on privatisation in education, in Paris on 18th March 2015 (to be conducted in French).

The Right to Education Project is seeking a Research & Advocacy Coordinator

Location: Central London

2 years Fixed Term Contract, Part time for 17.5 hours per week

Salary: For London base – Salary - £19,549 per annum for 2.5 days per week (equivalent to c£39,000 full time)

Local Terms and Conditions of the base location will apply

The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education has released the following statement on the growth of private sector provision of basic education and its impact on the right to education: 

On 20 January, 2015, Somalia became the 196th State party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

On 12th January, 2015, South Africa became the 163rd State Party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

In the statement of Declaration after the ratification, the United Nations expressed its hope that by ratifying the ICESCR, “the Government of the Republic of South Africa will give progressive effect to the right to education, as provided for in Article 13 (2) (a) and Article 14, within the framework of its National Education Policy and available resources.”

The UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Farida Shaheed, in a report submitted to the UN General Assembly, has raised concern about the growing presence of marketing and advertising in schools. “Schools should be considered as a distinct cultural space, deserving special protection from commercial influence,” she stressed.

In the Report, the Special Rapporteur explains:

In the report Privatisation of education and rights violations in Brazil: notes for the Committee on the Rights of the Child , the Brazilian Campaign for the Right to Education (Brazilian Campaign) and the NGO Ação Educativa expressed their shared concern around the proliferation of privatisation of education in Brazil and its negative impacts on the right to education.