Professor Aoife Nolan involved in drafting of Abidjan Principles on the Right to Education

The Abidjan Principles on the human rights obligations of States to provide public education and to regulate private involvement in education were adopted in Côte d’Ivoire last month, following a three-year participatory consultation and drafting process.

The aim is for the Abidjan Principles to be the new reference point for governments, educators and education providers when debating the respective roles and duties of states and private actors in education. They compile and unpack existing legal obligations that States have regarding the delivery of education, and in particular the role and limitations of private actors in the provision of education.

To facilitate the development of the Abidjan Principles, a drafting committee of 9 individuals has been meeting since June 2018. This group has led the drafting process, building on the comments from the consultations, in coordination with other experts. Member of the Doughty Street Chambers Academic Panel, Professor Aoife Nolan, was a member of this expert drafting committee. You can hear from her about the importance of the principles here and more detail is available here.

Reflecting the existence of significant global concern about the impact of private involvement in education, 60% of signatories are from the Global South, 60% are women, while 25% are education experts. Signatories include current and former members of UN treaty bodies, UN special rapporteurs and other leading human rights and education experts.