Ref: 42/2011

The
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) releases today a new report titled “Education
Denied: Israel’s Systematic Violation
of Palestinian Children’s Right to Education” which was
prepared for the July 2011 High-Level Segment of UN-ECOSOC in Geneva, Switzerland.

PCHR will attend this session, which
will review the implementation of the education-related Millennium Development
Goals (MDG) of the United Nations Development Agenda.

The right to education constitutes one of the most
fundamental human rights and it is central to the progressive economic, social
and cultural development and growth of society.

The international community has
pledged to achieve universal primary schooling by 2015.

Specifically, with respect to the development agenda,
the 2000 Dakar Framework for Action highlighted that “quality is at the heart
of education”, noting that “a quality education is one that
satisfies basic learning needs”.

Thus, PCHR
notes that education, as a human right and a development goal, must be built
upon quality and universal accessibility.

In the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), the
achievement of the MDG on education – as with all MDGs – is currently proving
unattainable as a result of illegal policies enacted as part of Israel’s
longstanding occupation.

By denying
Palestinian children full access to high-quality primary education, Israel, the
Occupying Power, is failing to comply with its binding obligations under
international law.

PCHR asks that the international community take all
appropriate measures to end Israel’s
repeated violations of international law which inhibit basic human rights,
including education, and development goals in the oPt.

The full report is available here.

For more details and information please contact:

Raji Sourani, Director

pchr@pchrgaza.com

Davide Tundo, International Legal Unit

davide@pchrgaza.org