The rights to education and an adequate standard of living are enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and other international laws or conventions. Additionally, a number of commitments have been made to reduce poverty and ensure the right to free quality primary education for all children.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948
World Conference on Education for All, March 1990
Dakar Framework for Action, April 2000
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), September 2000
The Fast Track Initiative (FTI), April 2002
Table 2: International instruments guaranteeing quality education for every girl and boy and an adequate standard of living
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 194853
Almost sixty 60 years ago the international community agreed on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948, establishing that "everyone has the right to education" and that education be free, at least in the elementary stages, and compulsory.54 In reality, education has not been treated as a fundamental human right.
World Conference on Education for All, March 1990
In 1990 at the World Conference on Education for All (EFA) in Jomtien, Thailand, delegates from 155 countries and representatives from some 150 organizations met to translate their recognition of the right to education into action. The resultant Framework for Action pledged to get all the world's children into primary education and to reduce by half the adult illiteracy rate by the year 2000.55 In 1990, more than 100 million children were not attending primary school. No mid-term goals were set.
Dakar Framework for Action, April 2000
Ten years later, the heads of the governments reconvened at the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, April 26-28, 2000, to assess the progress made toward achieving Education for All by 2000. However, the number of out-of-school children had increased by approximately 15 million. Faced with the stark realization that, despite earlier pledges, an estimated 115 million children were out of school and aid flows to the developing countries for education had declined over the 1990s, 180 countries reset a more realistic, but still difficult, deadline of 2015 for ensuring that all children everywhere completed quality primary school.56 Representatives of civil society raised questions about the trends in out-of-school children and aid. Thus, the 1,100 participants of the Forum committed in the Dakar Framework for Action, Education for All to the attainment of six goals. For a list of all six goals, see Table 2 on International Instruments Guaranteeing Quality Education.
To achieve these goals, the Forum underscored the need for more predictable and sustainable financial assistance, and for more effective donor coordination related to countries' Education Sector Programs. Very significant was the Declaration made by 180 countries that no country seriously committed to basic education would be thwarted in the achievement of this goal by lack of resources. The existence of a credible national education plan was posited as one indicator of a country's commitment, and a prerequisite for external funding.
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), September 2000
At the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, 189 Heads of Governments and member states of the UN unanimously adopted the Millennium Declaration57, which identifies eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including ending extreme poverty and achieving universal primary education by 2015. Many of the targets of the Millennium Development Goals were first set out at international conferences and summits held in the 1990s. For example, two of the Dakar Education for All goals (universal primary education and gender equality in education by 2015) were adopted as Millennium Development Goals, thereby recognizing the provision of basic education as a central part of the world's strategy to halve the incidence of global poverty.
After meetings among international agencies, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and specialized United Nations agencies, the UN General Assembly recognized the Millennium Development Goals as part of the road map for implementing the Millennium Declaration. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) coordinates global and national efforts to attain the Millennium Development Goals. All 191 UN member countries have pledged to meet the eight Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015.
For a list of the Millennium Development Goals, see Table 2 on International Instruments Guaranteeing Quality Education. *Notice Goals 1, 2 and 3, which are related to poverty, education and gender equality. Achieving these goals is inextricably linked to the elimination of child labor. Review progress towards achieving the MDGs.
The Millennium Development Goals are achievable
There is an urgent need to analyze and tackle child labor within the broader framework of the MDGs as part of the international community's efforts to ensure their success. The greatest challenge in dealing with the global phenomenon of child labor is recognizing its cross-cutting nature. Child labor needs to be acknowledged as a major obstacle to the achievement of the Goals, particularly in respect to universal education, gender equality, and eradicating poverty.
What is the Education for All Fast Track Initiative?
Which countries can participate in FTI?
How does a country sector plan get endorsed?
How many countries were originally invited to participate in FTI?
What is the Analytical and Technical Fast Track (AFT)?
Which countries are currently in FTI?
What is the Education for All Fast Track Initiative?
The Fast Track Initiative (FTI) is a partnership of donors and developing countries created to help low-income countries with sound education plans to receive the financial support they need to achieve universal completion of primary education by 2015. The Fast Track Initiative was launched in April 2002 to bridge global commitments and local implementation around a set of reciprocal obligations: 1) for the low-income countries to develop and implement sound education programs, and 2) for donors to support such programs with finance and enhanced efforts at harmonization, coordination, and acceleration. The Fast Track Initiative was created, in part, to encourage the translation of political will into action.
Which countries can participate in FTI?
FTI is open to all low-income countries demonstrating serious intent toward achieving universal quality primary education.
How does a country sector plan get endorsed?
To receive FTI endorsement, a country must have the following:
- a poverty reduction strategy or equivalent and
- a sound education plan, endorsed by in-country donors
How many countries were originally invited to participate in FTI?
In June 2002, 18 low-income countries, representing just over 17 percent of the world's out of school population, were invited to prepare proposals for Fast Track Initiative financing by November 2003.
What is the Analytical and Technical Fast Track (AFT)?
Additionally, the Big Five countries - Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nigeria - were identified on the basis of their large out-of-school population, and invited to join a parallel process called the Analytical and Technical Fast Track (AFT). The Big Five are home to 57 percent of the children who do not attend school in the world. The Analytical and Technical Fast Track is a preparatory phase leading to eventually participation to the Fast Track Initiative.
Once the Big Five have satisfied the eligibility criteria and Fast Track Initiative expansion is approved by the World Bank, then these nations will be permitted to participate as Fast Track Initiative countries. To receive FTI endorsement, these countries must have: 1) a national Poverty Reduction Strategy, 2) a sound Education Sector Program, 3) an adequate level of domestic financial commitments, and 4) an agreement to monitor and report on progress.
Which countries are currently in FTI?
As of September 2005, the following sixteen countries have had their education plans endorsed, and are receiving support from the Fast Track Initiative: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, Honduras, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Moldova, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Vietnam, and Yemen.58
Notably, the first 7 countries to fully qualify (Burkina Faso, Guinea, Guyana, Honduras, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Niger) are among the smallest of the 18 countries invited to participate. Thus, they will yield a small impact on the world's out-of-school population. Among the 5 countries yet to qualify is Tanzania, which has a much larger out of school population and urgently needs donor support.
The Fast Track Initiative + Big Five Countries
| 13 FTI invited and endorsed countries |
5 FTI invited countries, but not yet endorsed |
5 Analytical and Technical Fast Track (AFT) - with large out-of-school populations |
Burkina Faso
Guinea
Guyana
Honduras
Mauritania Nicaragua
Niger
(Nov. 2002)
|
The Gambia Mozambique Yemen
Vietnam (2003)
Ghana (2004)
Ethiopia***
|
Albania
Bolivia
Tanzania*** (potential 2005)
Uganda
Zambia
|
Bangladesh (potential 2005)
D.R. of Congo**
India (potential 2005)
Nigeria
Pakistan**
|
** Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, but no info on Education Sector Program
*** Large out-of-school populations
Source: Fast Track Initiative Secretariat, February 2004
Learn more about the Fast Tract Initiative
| International Instrument |
Highlights |
Status |
| The Right to Education and an Adequate Standard of Living |
| Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 194859 |
- Establishes that "everyone has the right to education" (Article 26). Education shall be free, at least in the elementary stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.
- Establishes the right of everyone to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of the individual and his/her family (Article 25).
|
? |
| International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), 196660 |
- Recognizes the right of everyone to education. Primary education shall be compulsory and free to all. (Article 13).
- Establishes the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. (Article 11)
|
Ratified by 151 countries |
| Jomtiem Framework for Action, March 199061 |
By 2000,
- Universal primary education
- Reduce adult illiteracy by half
|
Delegates from 150 countries |
|
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), September 1990
62 |
- Recognizes the right of the child to education, and progressively countries shall, in particular: (a) Make primary education compulsory and available free to all; etc. (Article 28)
|
The most widely ratified Convention in the world. Ratified by 192 countries, excluding U.S. and Somalia. |
|
Dakar Framework for Action, Education for All, April 2000
63 |
By 2015,
Goal 1: Expand and improve early childhood care and education.
Goal 2: Expand and ensure access to free and compulsory primary education of good quality for all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities (quantifiable)
(Millennium Development Goal 2)
Goal 3: Ensure equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programs to meet the needs of all young people and adults.
Goal 4: Double adult literacy, especially for women, and achieve equitable access to basic and continuing education for adults.
Goal 5: Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005 and achieve gender equality in education by 2015 (Millennium Development Goal 3).
Goal 6: Improve the quality of education and ensure excellence of all so that recognized and quantifiable learning outcomes - especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills - are achieved by all.64
|
Participants from 164 countries |
| Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), September 200065 |
By 2015,
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal (boys and girls everywhere) completion of primary education. (Education for All goal #2)
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015. (Education for All goal #5)
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability.
Goal 8: Create a global partnership for development.
|
All 191 UN member countries have pledged to meet by the year 2015 the eight Millennium Goals. However, achievement is still a long way off. At least the first 3 goals will never be achieved without first eliminating child labor.
|
| The World Bank's Fast Track Initiative (FTI), April 200266 |
A partnership of donors and developing countries created to help low-income countries with sound education plans to receive financial support they need to achieve universal completion of primary education by 2015. Created to encourage the translation of political will into action.
|
13 countries, including only 1 with a large out-of-school population, have had their education plans endorsed and are receiving support.
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Teachers Real-Life Collection