The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR), the Right to Education Project (RTE) and the Open Society Foundation’s Education Support Programme (OSF-ESP) are pleased to invite you to a Northern America and Western Europe Regional Consultation on Human Rights Guiding Principles on State obligations regarding Private Schools to be held in Paris at UNESCO on the Monday, March 13th and Tuesday, March 14th, 2017.        

The last two decades have seen a significant increase in the scale and scope of non-state actors in education, particularly in developing countries. A critical question in each context is whether the involvement of the private sector in education is acceptable or not. What is still missing, however, is a broadly accepted understanding of the normative framework against which to make this assessment. While international human rights law has the potential to fill in this gap, the existing legal framework still needs to be clarified and consolidated.        

To do so, over the past 12 months various education stakeholders have been working together to develop Guiding Principles that compile together existing customary and conventional human rights law as it relates to private actors in education. These guiding principles are tentatively called “Human Rights Guiding Principles on State obligations regarding private schools”. They are intended to be operational in and adaptable to different contexts and to provide a basis for advocacy, policy development, and litigation.        

The secretariat for this work is hosted by the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI- ESCR), the Right to Education Project (RTE), and the Open Society Foundation Education Support Program (OSF-ESP). As part of a broad consultative process to develop the Guiding Principles, various regional and thematic consultations are being convened over the course of 2016 and 2017 with a range of stakeholders including civil society organisations, State representatives, human rights organisations and experts in the fields of education and law, academics, international and regional organisations and other actors. Previous consultations have taken place in Bangkok for the Asia-Pacific region and Nairobi for East Africa.                                                      

This consultation is intended for education stakeholders in North America and Western Europe. During this consultation, participants will learn more about the Guiding Principles and input directly into their development. For more information on the Guiding Principles and the consultation process, see the concept note, the dedicated webpage, and the attached preliminary agenda outline.

Lunch and refreshments will be provided on both days. Participants are expected to cover their own travel and accommodation. To confirm your participation, please kindly complete this form by February 17th, 2016.

For any questions regarding the content of the consultation, please contact:

●       Sylvain Aubry (GI-ESCR): sylvain@globaliniti ative-escr.org

●       Delphine Dorsi (RTE): delphine.dorsi@right-to -education.org

●       Mireille de Koning (OSF): mireille.dekoning@opens ocietyfoundations.org 

For any questions regarding the logistics, please contact:

●       Charline Rambeloson (UNESCO): c.rambeloson@unesco. org                                                                                    

We look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

The Secretariat,

Sylvain Aubry (GI-ESCR), Mireille De Koning (OSF) and Delphine Dorsi (RTE)