International human rights law should protect and promote every individual’s human rights. But the reality is that international covenants on human rights appear remote and unattainable for the vast majority of ordinary people. This project, however, has demonstrated how international human rights, and especially the rights of our youngest children, can become a collaborative project, with individuals and civil society working from the grassroots to develop and enforce human rights obligations on States.

Our panellists today have been a part of a process of advancing the protection of early childhood education as a human right by drawing the attention to the right to ECCE  when the UN Committee on the Rights of Child assesses States' compliance with the Convention (called 'shadow reporting).

Join panelists Sandra Fredman, Professor of the Laws of the British Commonwealth and the United States, University of Oxford, Rawletta Barrow, DPhil in Law, University of Oxford, Lynette Okengo, Executive Director, The African Early Childhood Network, and Alan Stein, Director of the Children and Climate Initiative, Blavatnik School of Government, as they discuss the dynamic collaboration with civil society in several African countries through utilizing the process of shadow reporting. 

Their work has demonstrated that international human rights can become a collaborative project, with individuals and civil society working from the grassroots upwards and from the international sphere downwards to develop and enforce human rights obligations on States.

The subject matter of this journey is one of central importance: the care and education of the youngest amongst us. Our panellists have been a part of a process of advocating for and advancing the protection of early childhood education as a human right through collaborative ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ approaches. They will share their experience of shaping human rights law interpretation and enforcement through practical advocacy, particularly on the right to ECCE.

The discussion draws on collaborative work between the Oxford Human Rights Hub, the African Early Childhood Development Network, the Right to Education Initiative, UNESCO, and the Children and Climate Initiative.

The event will be followed by a drinks reception.