EU Statement - HRC - Open-ended intergovernmental working group on an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the rights to early childhood education, free pre-primary education and free secondary education

UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 

Open-ended intergovernmental working group on an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the rights to early childhood education, free pre-primary education and free secondary education

Advancing the development of a new optional protocol to the Convention of the Rights of the Child to further strengthen children’s right to education 

1 September 2025

EU statement 

Thank you chair-rapporteur.

Allow us to begin by congratulating you for your election as chair-rapporteur.

The EU thanks the organizers for convening this meeting.

The issue of the rights of the child is an important priority for the European Union.

In the human rights council, along our GRULAC partners, the EU leads on the biennual resolutions on the rights of the child, as well as on the mandate of the special rapporteur on the sale, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children. 

The topic at hand, that of the right of children to education, is one where the EU has been particularly active.

The right is enshrined in art. 14 of the EU charter of fundamental rights.

Furthermore, the EU is at the forefront of its implementation through numerous programs and policies put in place both at the EU level, such as The EU-Commission-adopted Strategy on the Rights of the Child and the European Child Guarantee, and the national level of its member states.

At the international level, the right to education is enshrined in the UDHR.

It is also present in that most universally ratified of the core human rights instruments, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which foresees the principle of free primary education.

This has led to significant progress worldwide through the implementation by states of their national obligations. The principle of the right to education has been also given considerable flesh through the work  of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, allowing us all to better understand its content and the obligations deriving therefrom.

We are therefore convinced of the importance of the right to education and its potential to contribute to the development of every child, as well to that of society at large. For this, access to free education without discrimination of any kind must be universal. It is also important to invest in free, inclusive and equitable quality education and doing so to the maximum of available resources.

It is clear that a lot of work remains to be done. The implementation gap particularly at the pre-primary and secondary education levels, remains the most essential of challenges, including in the achievement of SDG 4, aiming to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. 

We therefore welcome this discussion as an important step to assess the best way forward on the right to education, building on the important work of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, as well as other stakeholders. What has been achieved must be preserved.

We recognize the significant efforts of organizers to include important stakeholders in these discussions, including the OHCHR, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, UNESCO, UNICEF, UN Women, Civil Society, HRC special procedures and in particular of children themselves. We are convinced of the importance of including them in this and any subsequent relevant consultations.

We look forward to the upcoming discussions.