Qatar: UN expert visits to assess progress on right to education

​Arabic | ​French

GENEVA (4 December 2019) – UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education Koumbou Boly Barry will visit Qatar from 8 to 16 December to assess efforts in the country to implement the right to education.

“My visit will touch upon obstacles, challenges and good practices that impact on the four As of education – in other words, how the State is making education available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable,” Boly Barry said.

“I will seek to provide relevant and practical recommendations aimed at further strengthening the country’s efforts to ensure quality, inclusive education for everyone living in its territory.”

The nine-day mission will include meetings with Government officials, as well as visits to primary and secondary schools and universities, both public and private. The Rapporteur also intends to meet representatives of education foundations, academics and other stakeholders invested in education.

The Special Rapporteur will hold a press conference to share her preliminary observations at 12:00 local time on Monday 16 December 2019 at the Hotel Intercontinental - The City in West Bay, Doha. Access will be strictly limited to journalists.

The Special Rapporteur's full observations and recommendations will be presented at a forthcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council.

ENDS

Ms Koumbou Boly Barry took office as Special Rapporteur on the right to educationon 1 August 2016 following her appointment at the 32nd session of the Human Rights Council. She holds a PhD in Economic History from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal. She is the former Minister of Education and Literacy of Burkina Faso and has consulted widely for various governments and international institutions on the right to education. Dr. Boly Barry has been an advocate on gender issues in education. She also has ample knowledge and experience in training and research, as a visiting professor at University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, University of Louvain La Neuve Belgium, and as a lecturer at Ouagadougou University ,Burkina Faso ,Vitoria University, Brazil and Fribourg University, Switzerland.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organisation and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights country page: Qatar

For more information and media inquiries, please contact:
In Qatar (during the visit): Ms Mylène Bidault (+41 22 917 9935 / mbidault@ohchr.org
In Genève: Ms Teizu Guluma (+41 079 764 7374 / tguluma@ohchr.org)

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts:
Mr. Jeremy Laurence, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 / jlaurence@ohchr.org)

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on Twitter @UN_SPExperts.

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