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On 13 February 2024, international experts, academics, education stakeholders and representatives of regional and international human rights systems gathered to celebrate five years since the adoption of the Abidjan Principles, a reference text and rapidly recognised authoritative resource on the right to education. Watch the recording below & read more about the event on our blog.


On 13 February 2019, 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, following a three-year participatory consultation and drafting process.

The Abidjan Principles are a 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. They provide more details about what international human rights law means by drawing from other sources of law and existing authoritative interpretations.

Professor Ann Skelton, chair of the Drafting Committee, and UNESCO Chair of Education Law in Africa, with Madame Kombou Boly Barry, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, present a drawing by artist Yannick Ackatchy to the Minister of Educ…

Professor Ann Skelton, chair of the Drafting Committee, and UNESCO Chair of Education Law in Africa, with Madame Kombou Boly Barry, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, present a drawing by artist Yannick Ackatchy to the Minister of Education, Cote d’Ivoire to celebrate the adoption of Abidjan Principles.


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The Principles

Explore the text of each Principle, related expert commentary, and key resources.


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Support for the Abidjan principles

Learn more about the drafting committee members, signatories and endorsements to the Abidjan Principles.


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Background

Discover the unique history and process undertaken to develop the Abidjan Principles.


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Resources

Access background resources related to the Abidjan Principles.


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Abidjan Principles videos

A range of videos, including event recordings, specially commissioned animations, videos highlighting different aspects of the Abidjan Principles and expert commentary, have been made over recent years.

Review all video content here


Realizing the Abidjan Principles on the Right to Education: Human Rights, Public Education, and the Role of Private Actors in Education

The book compiles 10 chapters that informed the development of the Abidjan Principles. It mixes cutting-edge legal and social research papers, providing a multidisciplinary analysis on some of the most critical issues in contemporary education discussions, from public-private partnerships to the right to public education. The book also provides an insight into the richness of the reflections that led to the adoption of the Abidjan Principles by 57 experts in February 2019, a text that quickly became the reference legal text on the right to education.

These papers are edited by Frank Adamson, Sylvain Aubry, Mireille de Koning and Delphine Dorsi, and published by Edward Elgar Publishing in NORRAG’s series on International Education and Development.

The book is available for free online, in open access, here.