the 48th International Conference on Education, held from 25 to 28 November 2008, in Geneva,
the World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development, held from 31 March to
2 April 2009, in Bonn, the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education, held in 2009
in Belém, Brazil, and the World Conference on Higher Education, held from 5 to 8 July 2009,
in Paris;
6.
Notes with interest the activities of the joint expert group of the Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on Conventions and Recommendations
of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on the monitoring of the
right to education;
7.
Welcomes the work undertaken by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights in the promotion of the right to education at the country,
regional and headquarters levels;
8.
Urges all relevant stakeholders to increase their efforts so that the goals of the
Education for All initiative can be achieved by 2015, including by tackling persistent inequalities
based on income, gender, location, ethnicity, language, disability and other factors, and notes the
role that good governance can play in this regard;
9.
Stresses the need for cultural and educational programmes to be developed with a
view to raise awareness on human rights, and urges States to intensify their efforts in this regard;
10. Urges all States to ensure the right to education, an imperative in its own right, of
persons in detention in the criminal justice system, and to provide appropriate education to foster
reintegration into society and help reduce recidivism, including by making every effort:
(a)
To ensure equal access to education for all female and male detainees;
(b)
To develop a coherent policy for education in detention;
(c) To remove barriers to education in detention, including its possible negative impact
on opportunities for remuneration in prison;
(d) To make available to all detainees comprehensive education programmes aimed at
the development of the full potential of each detainee;
(e)
To incorporate human rights education in the programmes;
(f) To develop individual education plans with the full participation of the detainee,
taking into account the diverse backgrounds and needs of persons in detention, including women,
persons belonging to minority and indigenous groups, persons of foreign origin and persons with
physical, learning and psychosocial disabilities, while recalling that a detainee may belong to
more than one of these groups;
(g) To integrate education programmes into the public school system in order to allow
for the continuation of education upon release;
(h) To ensure appropriate professional training and working conditions and a safe
working environment for teachers in places of detention;
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