Opening Speech

Thank you upstanding chair and delegates. 7 is the number of subversive attacks
that France received in less than 2 years ;placing the country in emergency state
for more than 5 years, violating a long list of human rights just in one country.

Lets stop working for a minute and think about how more of those are bieng
violated right now, in the next 10 seconds, how many people are dying, are being
dominated, abused, controlled, used and bad behaviour treated to get goods.

The delegation of the Republic of France, in its work for the United Nations is
totally distressed by the alarming regularity human rights are disregarded and
violeted, sometimes to a shoking degree.

Hate is becoming mainstreamed. Walls – which tormented previous generations,

and have never yielded any sustainable solution to any problem – are returning.

Barriers of suspicion are rising, snaking through and between our societies – and
they are killers.
Clampdowns on public freedoms, and crackdowns on civil society activists and
human rights defenders, are hacking away at the forces, which uphold the healthy
functioning of societies.

The Republic of France believes our work together in the HRC is vital. We as
member states of the council must mandatorily find solutions to the present
agenda, ensuring the effectiveness of our work. I appeal to all of you, once again, to
focus on the substance of the complaint, rather than lashing out of criticism.

Keep in mind, “Today’s human rights violation are the causes of tomorrow’s
conflicts” Mary Robinson

I yield the floor back to the chair

Liberty, equality and fraternity

“Human rights are not a privilege conferred by governments. They are every Human
Being’s entitlement by virtue of their humanity” Mother Theresa.

These trends bleed nations of their innate resilience. They do not make them safe:
they make them weaker. Piece by piece, these mutually reinforcing trends are
shearing off the protections that maintain respect, enable development, and
provide the only fragile basis for world peace. They are attacks on sanity. And they
can be reversed with our work.

to align your actions with the recommendations of the Council and its
mechanisms – to truly take this work out, and bring it to the streets and
households of your countries.

States claim exceptional circumstances. They pick and choose between

rights. One Government will thoroughly support women’s human rights
and those of the LGBT communities, but will balk at any suggestion that
those rights be extended to migrants of irregular status. Another State
may observe scrupulously the right to education, but will brutally stamp
out opposing political views. A third State comprehensively violates the
political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights of its people, while
vigorously defending the ideals of human rights before its peers.

Human rights are standards that allow all people to live with dignity, freedom,
equality, justice, and peace. Every person has these rights simply because they are
human beings. They are guaranteed to everyone without distinction of any kind. So
human rights are essential to the full development of individuals and communities.

France is a multiparty constitutional democracy with a population of approximately 64.7

million[1]. The president of the republic is elected by popular vote for a five-year term, and
Nicolas Sarkozy is the incumbent. The upper house (Senate) of the bicameral parliament is
indirectly elected through an electoral college, while the lower house (National Assembly) is
directly elected. Parliamentary and presidential elections took place in 2007 and were free
and fair. The Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) is the majority party in parliament.
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.

The following human rights problems were reported: overcrowded and dilapidated prisons;
lengthy pretrial detention; protracted investigation and trial proceedings; restrictions on
religious wear in public institutions; societal violence against women; child marriage in
minority communities; anti-Semitic incidents; trafficking in persons; and hostility towards
immigrants, Roma, and Travellers.

A year after the deadly 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris on 13

November and France is still grappling with its relationship with its
minorities.
After it emerged that some of those who carried out the attacks were
French nationals, many renewed longstanding criticisms that the
outdated French “republican model” of integration and citizenship might
be broken. The model’s objective was to achieve the integration of
“nationals” – Bretons, Corsicans and others – and viewed from this
historical perspective, it has proven to be somewhat successful. Most of
these groups now feel “French”, and their cultural heritage and
languages are recognised as part of French identity.

But the model was not designed to integrate the diverse range of groups
in contemporary France. Instead, it serves to make minorities, and the
difficulties they face in French society, almost invisible.

An outdated legal system

The French state’s policy rejects any references to
national, racial, ethnic, religious or linguistic
minorities. This model is based on the idea that
the state should interact with the individual only,
not communities or groups, in order to give equal
treatment to everyone. “Absolute equality” is seen
as the best way to ensure the integration of all
citizens, to the benefit of both the state and the
citizens themselves.
As a result, French authorities have rejected any
form of targeted measures for ethnic, religious or
linguistic groups. In practise this has rendered
minorities invisible and brought systemic forms of
discrimination. Legally, the constitutional principle
of equality has been interpreted as prohibiting the
government from collecting data or statistics on
the racial, ethnic or religious backgrounds of its
citizens, in any context. This means for example
that the socioeconomic status of groups across
any indicators based on racial, ethnic, religious or
other grounds is unknown, and that the national
census does not include any questions about race
or ethnicity.
A 1978 law regarding “data files, processing and
individual liberties” explicitly prohibits the
collection and processing of personal data that
reveals, directly or indirectly, the racial and ethnic
origins, or religion, of any persons.
In practise, there is a dual impact of this
prohibition. First, it means that no statistics exist
regarding ethnic or religious discrimination, or
discrimination on related grounds. Second, it has
also been translated by courts and other
institutions into rules which prohibit any forms of
religious affiliation in the public sphere. It is under
this “absolute” approach to equality and neutrality
that the wearing of religious symbols has been
prohibited.
Despite the lack of data, some groups feel they
are being discriminated against, notably Muslims,
“black” French and Roma populations.

The historical weight of the 1789 French revolution and its approach to
citizenship cannot be underestimated in today’s political and legal
landscape. The “absolute” nature of equality is part of this legacy, with
equality seen as the overarching principle in the constitutional edifice.
This has been protected and enforced by the Constitutional Court on
many occasions. For example, in 1999 the court decided that ratifying
the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages would be
unconstitutional on grounds of “absolute equality”, effectively barring
the introduction of any form of minority rights into the French legal
system.

But we argue that another founding principle, that of fraternity, could be

used to counterbalance the negative effects of this strict interpretation of
the law regarding equality. Of the three terms in France’s famous
constitutional maxim, “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”, the legal
significance of fraternity is the least understood. From a legal
perspective, its definition has always been problematic, and as our new
research has highlighted, it is unquestionably the “weak link” in the
trilogy.

La postura oficial de Francia es la de no tener naciones enemigas, aunque el presidente de

la República Francesa, Sarkozy ha considerado prudente pronunciarse en contra del uso
negativo de la energía nuclear en Irán, bajo el mandato de Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, no ha
implementado ningún tipo de sanciones económicas contra este país.

Recordemos que Mohammad Khatami, el anterior Presidente de Irán y el propio

Ayatollah Khomeinie, fueron aliados de Francia, en su momento.

Francia se ha vuelto una "terre d'éxile" o tierra de exilio y ha abierto sus puertas a
practicamente todo el mundo. De hecho Francia es el país occidental con mayores
vínculos con Oriente Medio, herencia de la época colonial.

Aunque los franceses no tienen naciones enemigas, si hay grupos rebeldes o insurgentes
que comprometen sus intereses en Africa. Tal es el caso de Djibuti o lo fue en el caso de
"Los Tigres" de Katanga y, por supuesto, las fuerzas francesas han intervenido para
defender la propiedad, el orden gubernamental y los residentes europeos en estos países.
En 1991, Francia apoyó a la Coalición para liberar Kuwait, pero no apoyó la invasión de
Irak en 2003. También mantiene una importante presencia en Kosovo, como parte de la
IFOR y en Afganistán dentro de la ISAF.

En cuanto a Aliados, Francia de mantuvo fuera de la estructura orgánica de la OTAN

desde 1966 y es solo en fechas recientes que se reincorporó a este organismo de defensa.
Técnicamente, todos los países firmantes del Tratado son aliados de Francia.
LOS ALIADOS DE FRANCIA SON LA OTAN Y EN ELLO OBVIAMENTE SE INCLUYE A
EUROPA.
LOS ENEMIGOS: EL FUNDAMENTALISMO MUSULMAN.

1. Bélgica (1949 – fundación).

2. Canadá (1949 – fundación).

 3. Dinamarca (1949 – fundación).

4. Estados Unidos (1949 – fundación).

5. Francia (1949 – fundación).

6. Islandia (1949 – fundación).

7. Italia (1949 – fundación).

8. Luxemburgo (1949 – fundación).

9. Noruega (1949 – fundación).

10. Países Bajos (1949 – fundación).

11. Portugal (1949 – fundación).

12. Reino Unido (1949 – fundación).

13. Grecia (1952 – primera adhesión).

14. Turquía (1952 – primera adhesión).

15. Alemania (1955 – segunda adhesión).

16. España (1982 – tercera adhesión).

17. Hungría (1999 – cuarta adhesión).

18. Polonia (1999 – cuarta adhesión).

19. República Checa (1999 – cuarta adhesión).

20. Bulgaria (2004 – quinta adhesión).

21. Eslovaquia (2004 – quinta adhesión).

22. Eslovenia (2004 – quinta adhesión).

23. Estonia (2004 – quinta adhesión).

24. Letonia (2004 – quinta adhesión).

25. Lituania (2004 – quinta adhesión).

26. Rumanía (2004 – quinta adhesión).

27. Croacia (2009 – sexta adhesión).

28. Albania (2009 – sexta adhesión).

 89.4% French (born)

 4.4% French(by acquisition)
 6.2% Foreigners
 8.9% Immigrants[1]
(Maghrebis, Africans, Other Europeans, Asians, Turks, Americans)

 47% Christian
 37% Irreligious
 7% Muslim
 3% other faiths
 6% unspecified[2]

Government Unitary senatorialsemi-presidentialrepublic

• President Emmanuel Macron May 7 2017

• Prime Minister Édouard Philippe

• President of the Gérard Larcher

Senate

• President of the François de Rugy

National Assembly

Establishment

• Francia unified 486

• Treaty of Verdun[II] August 843

• Republic established 22 September 1792

• Founded the EEC[III] 1 January 1958

• Current constitution[IV] 4 October 1958

Under human rights treaties, governments have the primary responsibility for protecting and
promoting human rights. However, governments are not solely responsible for ensuring human
rights. The UDHR states:
 “Every individual and every organ of society … shall strive by teaching and education to
promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national
and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance.”

This provision means that not only the government, but also businesses, civil society, and
individuals are responsible for promoting and respecting human rights.

When a government ratifies a human rights treaty, it assumes a legal obligation to respect,
protect, and fulfill the rights contained in the treaty. Governments are obligated to make sure
that human rights are protected by both preventing human rights violations against people
within their territories and providing effective remedies for those whose rights are violated.
Government parties to a treaty must do the following:

Respect Protect
Governments must not deprive people of a right Governments must prevent private actors from
or interfere with persons exercising their rights. violating the human rights of others.

For example, governments can: For example, governments can:

 Create constitutional guarantees of human  Prosecute perpetrators of human rights

rights.
 Provide ways for people who have suffered
human rights violations by the government
to seek legal remedies from domestic and
international courts.
 Sign international human rights treaties.
abuses, such as crimes of domestic
violence.
 Educate people about human rights and the
importance of respecting the human rights
of others.
 Cooperate with the international community
in preventing and prosecuting crimes
against humanity and other violations.

Fulfill
Governments must take positive action to facilitate the enjoyment of basic human rights.

For example, governments can:

 Provide free, high-quality public education.

 Create a public defender system so that everyone has access to a lawyer.
 Ensure everyone has access to food by funding public assistance programs.
 Fund a public education campaign on the right to vote.

International human rights law provides an important framework for guaranteeing the rights of
all people, regardless of where they live. International human rights law is contained in many
different types of documents, including treaties, charters, conventions, and covenants. Despite
the different official names, these documents are all considered treaties and have the same
effect under international law: countries that ratify a treaty are legally obligated to protect the
rights it describes.

The human rights treaty process usually begins at the United Nations or a similar international
body. Legal and subject matter experts might first create a draft of the treaty. After the draft is
written, the UN or other body will arrange a meeting between representatives of interested
countries to negotiate the final terms, or content, of the treaty. This can be a lengthy process if
large numbers of countries want to participate in the drafting process. Non-governmental
organizations are sometimes allowed to offer recommendations during some of the stages of
the drafting process. After the negotiating countries agree on a final text of the treaty, the treaty
is opened for ratification by countries that want to become parties to it.
Countries have different methods for acceding to or ratifying treaties. For the United States to
become a party to a treaty, the president must first sign it, and then present it to the Senate,
where two-thirds of the senators must vote to ratify it. Through ratification, a country agrees to
be legally bound by the terms of the treaty.

Countries that ratify treaties are allowed to enter reservations to those instruments.
Reservations are statements made by a country that “modify the legal effect of certain
provisions of the treaty.” Entering a reservation allows a government to agree to most of a
treaty, while excluding or limiting parts that might be controversial or unconstitutional in its own
country. Many countries have entered reservations to the major human rights treaties, which
can limit the effectiveness of the treaties in protecting people against abuses committed by their
governments.

Human rights are the fundations of the French Republic and its foreign policy.
Human rights are inalienable to all human beings, whatever their nationality,
whatever their gender, ethnic or national origin, colour, religion, language or any
other condition, and France is advocating the universel and indissociable nature
of human rights.
At the UN, France is very active in the different bodies where the subject is
discussed: the Security Council, the General Assembly, and the Human Rights
Council (of which France is a member elected for the 2014-2016 mandate), but
also at the Economic and Social Council (Commission on the Status of
Women).
France is particularly engaged in the fight against the recruitment of child
soldiers, forced disappearances, respect for women’s rights, freedom of
expression and protection of journalists and the fight against discrimination
based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
France is also fully mobilized in the fight to abolish the death penalty. In New
York, it promotes the adoption of a General Assembly resolution calling for the
establishment of a universal moratorium on the death penalty.
To defend its priorities, France committs to support and actively contribute to all
human rights protection mecanisms and committees and to continue its action
for the fight against impunity, so that persons who are responsible for violations
will be accountable for their actions to justice.
Complete this article with our file about the "Protection of civilians"
https://onu.delegfrance.org/Protection-of-Human-Rights
Human rights in France are contained in the preamble of the Constitutionof the French
Fifth Republic, founded in 1958, and the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the
Citizen. France has also ratified the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well
as the European Convention on Human Rights 1960 and the Charter of Fundamental
Rights of the European Union (2000). All these international law instruments takes
precedence on national legislation. However, human rights abuses take place
nevertheless. The state of detention centres for unauthorized migrants who have received
an order of deportation has also been criticized.

Police abuses and detention conditions[edit]

In 2004, the Inspector General of the National Police received 469 registered complaints
about illegitimate police violence during the first 11 months of the year, down from 500
during the same period in 2003. There were 59 confirmed cases of police violence,
compared to 65 in the previous year. In April 2004, the ECHR condemned the Government
for "inhumane and degrading treatments" in the 1997 case of a teenager beaten while in
police custody. The court ordered the Government to pay Giovanni Rivas $20,500 (15,000
euros) in damages and $13,500 (10,000 euros) in court costs.[6]The head of the police
station in Saint-Denis, near Paris, was forced to resign after allegations of rape and other
violations committed by the police force under his command. Nine investigations
concerning police abuse in this police station were done in 2005 by the IGS inspection of
police.[7][8]

Discrimination[edit]
The “idéal républicain” (republican ideal) intends to achieve equality in rights between
French citizens. To this end, in the national census, the collection of statistics regarding
ethnicity or religion is forbidden. This has led to some debate over the decline of
indigenous minority languages and identity in the French Republic.
According to the Direction centrale des renseignements généraux (Central Directorate of
General Intelligence), the former intelligence service of the French police, in 2004 there
were 1513 explicitly racist or antisemitic incidents in France, including 361 acts of violence.
Antisemitic incidents were the most numerous, accounting for 950 of the incidents,
including 199 violent acts.[9] Anti-Maghreb incidents accounted for 563 incidents, including
162 violent acts. The Paris region was the most affected. 2007 saw an overall decrease of
9% in such incidents.[10]
Minority acculturation[edit]
Main article: Languages of France
Before the Revolution, Standard French (a dialect of Langue d'Oïl) was spoken in only
slightly more than half of the territory of France. In western Brittany,
southern Flanders, Alsace-Lorraine and most of the southern half of France (Occitania),
local people had their own distinct cultures. Breton is a Celtic language akin to Welsh,
Alsace-Lorraine was part of the German-speaking world, while Occitan is a
separate Romance language. With the centralization of the Republic that accompanied the
Revolution, the state imposed the teaching of Standard French in all schools and
universities, and the exclusive use of French in government institutions.
Promotion of a local language or culture has finally been allowed, but under severe
restrictions which effectively make it difficult to publish, organize classes, or media
broadcasts.
Freedom of religion[edit]
Main article: Status of religious freedom in France
Freedom of religion in France is guaranteed by the constitutional rights set forth in the
1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
Women rights[edit]
France legalized women's suffrage on 21 April 1944.
The Neuwirth law legalized birth control methods on 28 December 1967. Youths were
given anonymous and free access to them in 1974.
Abortion was legalized in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy by the Veil law on 17 January
1975.
LGBT rights[edit]
Main article: LGBT rights in France
Homosexuality was decriminalized during the Revolution by the law of the 25 September –
6 October 1791.
On 6 August 1942 Vichy government introduced a discriminative law in penal code: article
334 (moved to article 331 on 8 February 1945 by the Provisional Government of the French
Republic) increased age of consent to 21 for homosexual relations. This law remained valid
until 4 August 1982.
A less known discriminative law (ordonnance n°60-1245 on 1960, 25 November ) doubled
penalty for indecent exposurein case of homosexual activity, between 1960 and 1980
(penal code article 330). This text is also known as the Mirguetamendment.[11]
The pacte civil de solidarité, a form of civil union, introduced in 1999, allows same-sex
unions.
A bill granting same-sex couples the right to marry and jointly adopt children was adopted
by the National Assembly on May 18, 2013 by Law 2013-404
Rights of people with disabilities[edit]
Since July 1987, all companies with at least 20 workers have to employ at least 6%
handicapped people.[citation needed]
Intersex rights[edit]
Main article: Intersex rights in France
Intersex people in France face significant gaps in protection from non-consensual medical
interventions and protection from discrimination. In response to pressure from intersex
activists and recommendations by United Nations Treaty Bodies, the Senate published an
inquiry into the treatment of intersex people in February 2017. It calls for significant
changes to some medical practices, and also reparations for individuals subjected to
coercive medical treatment.[12][13]An individual, Gaëtan Schmitt, has taken legal action to
obtain civil status as "neutral sex" ("sexe neutre") but, in May 2017, this was rejected by the
Court of Cassation.[14]

Human trafficking[edit]
There has been a growing awareness of human trafficking as a human rights issue in
Europe (see main article: trafficking in human beings). The end of communism and
collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia has contributed to an increase in human
trafficking, with the majority of victims being women forced into prostitution.[15][16] France is a
transit and destination country for persons, primarily women, trafficked mainly from Central
and Eastern Europe and from Africa for the purpose of labour exploitation and sexual
exploitation. The Government of France fully complies with the minimum standards for the
elimination of trafficking. The French government was called on to make sure that
implementation of the 2003 Domestic Security Law did not result in re-victimizing trafficking
victims by improving the screening of foreign prostitutes so that trafficking victims are
properly identified and protected from their traffickers.[17]

Mass surveillance and databases[edit]

See Government databases#France.
The collection, storage, and use of personal data is regulated by the CNIL whose mission
is to enforce compliance with the data privacy law.

Human rights organizations[edit]

Human rights organizations operating in France include:

 Amnesty International (AI)

 Cimade (the only organization authorized to visit internment camp for illegal aliens
(sans-papiers, literally "without-papers", that is people who do not possess identity
documents)
 GISTI (immigrants support NGO)
 Human Rights Watch (HRW)
 Ligue des droits de l'homme (LDH, Human Rights League – created during the Dreyfus
Affair at the end of the 19th century)
 MRAP anti-racist NGO
 SOS Racisme

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, released a report today showing that more
than half – 3.7 million – of the 6 million school-age children under its mandate
have no school to go to.
Some 1.75 million refugee children are not in primary school and 1.95 million
refugee adolescents are not in secondary school, the report found. Refugees
are five times more likely to be out of school than the global average.
“This represents a crisis for millions of refugee children,” said Filippo Grandi,
UN High Commissioner for Refugees. “Refugee education is sorely neglected,
when it is one of the few opportunities we have to transform and build the next
generation so they can change the fortunes of the tens of millions of forcibly
displaced people globally.”
Entitled "Missing Out: Refugee Education in Crisis", the report compares
UNHCR data on refugee education with UNESCO data on global school
enrolment. Only 50 per cent of refugee children have access to primary
education, compared with a global average of more than 90 per cent. And as
these children become older, the gap becomes a chasm: only 22 per cent of
refugee adolescents attend secondary school compared to a global average of
84 per cent. At the higher education level, just one per cent of refugees attend
university, compared to a global average of 34 per cent.
The report is released in advance of world leaders gathering on September 19-
20 at the UN General Assembly’s Summit for Refugees and Migrants and the
Leaders’ Summit on the Global Refugee Crisis, hosted by the President of the
United States. At both summits UNHCR is calling on governments, donors,
humanitarian agencies and development partners as well as private-sector
partners to strengthen their commitment to ensuring that every child receives a
quality education. Underlining the discussions will be the target of Sustainable
Development Goal 4, “Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and
promote lifelong learning” an aim that will not be realized by 2030 without
meeting the education needs of vulnerable populations, including refugees and
other forcibly displaced people.
“As the international community considers how best to deal with the refugee
crisis, it is essential that we think beyond basic survival,” said Grandi.
“Education enables refugees to positively shape the future of both their
countries of asylum and their home countries when they one day return.”
While the report highlights progress made by governments, UNHCR and
partners in enrolling increased numbers of refugees in school, the struggle is
one of sheer numbers. While the global school-age refugee population was
relatively stable at 3.5 million over the first 10 years of the 21st century, it has
grown on average by 600,000 children and adolescents annually since 2011. In
2014 alone, the refugee school-age population grew by 30 per cent. At this
pace of growth, UNHCR estimates that an average of at least 12,000 additional
classrooms and 20,000 additional teachers are needed on an annual basis.
Refugees often live in regions where governments are already struggling to
educate their own children. They face the additional task of finding school
places, trained teachers and learning materials for tens or even hundreds of
thousands of newcomers, who often do not speak the language of instruction
and have frequently missed out on three to four years of schooling. More than
half of the world’s out-of-school refugee children and adolescents are located in
just seven countries: Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Lebanon, Pakistan and Turkey.
Exemplified by Syria, the report shows how conflict has the potential to reverse
positive education trends. Whereas in 2009, 94 per cent of Syrian children
attended primary and lower secondary education, by June 2016 only 60 per
cent of children were in school in Syria, leaving 2.1 million children and
adolescents without access to education in Syria. In neighbouring countries,
over 4.8 million Syrian refugees are registered with UNHCR, amongst them
around 35 per cent are of school-age. In Turkey, only 39 per cent of school-age
refugee children and adolescents were enrolled in primary and secondary
education, 40 per cent in Lebanon, and 70 per cent in Jordan. This means that
nearly 900,000 Syrian school-age refugee children and adolescents are not in
school.
In February at the Supporting Syria and the Region conference in London
donors committed to a plan to reach 1.7 million Syrian refugee and affected
host-community children and youth in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and Turkey,
and 2.1 million out-of-school children inside Syria. By the start of the new school
year in September, the work by host governments is impressive, with Jordan
and Lebanon reinforcing their double shift system at schools, 90 per cent of
Syrian refugee children enrolled in school in Egypt, and Turkey redoubling
efforts to encourage enrolment. However, funding from this conference is still
not fully committed, threatening to undermine some of this progress.
“The progress seen in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey points to the
potential to turn around the educational prospects of refugees, but only if the
international community invests,” said Grandi.
The report also looks at some of the more protracted refugee situations that
receive less attention. In Kakuma refugee camp in Northern Kenya, the report
profiles the remarkable story of a young South Sudanese girl, Esther, who has
caught up on multiple years of missed education to reach the last year of
secondary school. Only three per cent of children in Kakuma camp are enrolled
in secondary school, and less than one per cent make it to higher education.
The report calls for governments to prioritize effective inclusion of refugee
children in national systems and multi-year education sector plans. In Chad, a
recent transition of all schools to the national system has supported both
refugee and host community children. However, lack of funding is resulting in
overcrowded and under resourced classrooms.
Given the fact that the average length of displacement for a refugee in a
protracted situation currently stands at 20 years, the report calls for donors to
transition from a system of emergency to multi-year and predictable funding that
allows for sustainable planning, quality programming and sound monitoring of
education for refugees and national children and adolescents.
The report concludes with the inspiring story of Nawa, a Somali refugee who
only started her education aged 16 at a community learning centre in Malaysia.
Under four years later, she is due to start a foundation course at university while
giving back to her school as a volunteer teacher.
“Nawa’s story proves it is never too late to invest in refugee education, and
investment in one refugee’s education means the entire community benefits,”
said Grandi.

irst, education empowers people and transforms lives. None of us here could ever imagine what
our lives and those of our children would be without education. Education gives people hope,
confidence and dignity. It equips them with knowledge and skills to escape poverty. It saves lives
and reduces the spread of preventable diseases.

Second, education fosters economic growth. Every dollar spent in quality education generates
strong positive returns for our global economy. With unemployment rising so dramatically, we
need, more than ever, to invest in relevant education. Many jobseekers do not have the skills that
new jobs need. We cannot afford a “lost generation”.

Third, education is the foundation for a more peaceful and sustainable future. By influencing
people’s attitudes and behaviours, education is a key channel for better mutual understanding,
tolerance and respect for each other and our planet.

The three priorities of Global Education First are: First, to put every child in school. Second, to
improve the quality of learning. Third, to foster global citizenship.

First we need to establish a FEW basic necessities for students to know in each subject area at each grade
level. In some states the number of specific learning goals is greater than there are days in school.

Next we must create a culture of high expectations and value COLLABORATION over competition. The
place for competition is on athletic fields, not in classrooms. Students who collaborate will learn more,
enjoy learning and welcome new challenges.

Finally we must make learning RELEVANT. Projects and performance assessments provide real learning
- students remember the concepts because the context matters to them. Multiple choice tests encourage
temporary memorization, not mastery.

My children deserve better. If parents knew the educational possibilities, they would not tolerate the
antiquated systems and strategies to which their children are subjected in public schools.

The French educational system is highly centralized and organized, with many
subdivisions.

In this article, we provide an overview of the French education system, with a look at
the structure, credentials and recent history. We also take stock of French efforts to
internationalize the education system, both in terms of outbound and inbound mobility.

Education is a priority in France, with 21 percent of the annual national budget

earmarked for education. The country boasts a 99 percent literacy rate. France’s higher
education history is lengthy. The University of Paris, one of the world’s oldest
universities, was founded in 1215. Prior to 1789, education was controlled by the
Catholic Church. After the French Revolution, a standardized and centralized education
system was instituted.

For administrative purposes, France is geographically divided into 31 educational

regions known as académies. Each académie is headed by a recteur, a representative of
the Ministry of Education, who is in charge of all education levels within that region.
Each académie is further divided into départements, which are headed by an inspecteur
d’académie, who oversees primary and secondary education. A law adopted in 1989
established that while the Ministry of Education is responsible for creating the
curriculum and setting educational standards and goals, each primary and secondary
school has the autonomy to choose how to best teach the curriculum and achieve state-
determined educational goals.

How pervasive is it?

The UNHCR publication Refugee Education: a Global Review reported as follows:
Education is one of the highest priorities of refugee communities. Yet there is insufficient support to
UNHCR to guarantee the right to education for refugee children and young people. The lack of high
quality and protective education for refugees stands in the way of meeting Education for All goals, of
achieving durable solutions, and of sustainable development and reconstruction of home and host
countries.

Access to education for refugees is limited and uneven across regions and settings of displacement.
Enrollment in primary school is only 76% globally and drops dramatically to 36% at secondary levels.
Girls are at a particular disadvantage; in eastern Africa, only 5 girls are enrolled for every 10 boys.

Refugee education is generally of a very low quality, with indicators that measure inputs rather than
outcomes. Teacher-pupil ratios average as high as 1:70 and, in many situations, teachers do not
have even the ten days of training viewed as minimum. Available data indicate that many refugee
children are learning very little in schools; among Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia, less than 6% of
refugee children reached benchmark reading fluency by grade 4.

Examples of EAC partners who are addressing this

barrier
The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is mandated to lead and
coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its
partnership with Educate A Child is to deliver quality primary education to about 173,000 refugee
children in 12 countries.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
provides assistance and protection to a population of some 5 million registered Palestine refugees in
Gaza, West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The agency operates one of the largest school
systems in the Middle East, with nearly 700 schools, and has been the main provider of free-of-
 charge basic education to Palestine refugees for over 60 years. The partnership with EAC will enroll
an additional 120,000 Palestinian OOSC.

 United Kingdom: 20.4%

 Canada: 13.3%
 United States: 12.8%
 Switzerland: 11.9%
 Belgium: 10.8%

Russia

Vladimir Putin has signed into law a controversial amendment that decriminalises some forms
of domestic violence.

The amendment, which sailed through both houses of Russian parliament before Tuesday’s
presidential signing, has elicited anger from critics who say that it sends the wrong message in a
country where, according to some estimates, one woman dies every 40 minutes from domestic
abuse. It makes “moderate” violence within families an administrative, rather than criminal,
offence.

From now on, beatings of spouses or children that result in bruising or bleeding but not broken
bones are punishable by 15 days in prison or a fine, if they do not happen more than once a year.
Previously, they carried a maximum jail sentence of two years.

Russia's parliament voted 380-3 on Friday to decriminalize domestic violence in

cases where it does not cause "substantial bodily harm" and does not occur more
than once a year.

The move, which eliminates criminal liability in such cases, makes a violation
punishable by a fine of roughly $500, or a 15-day arrest, provided there is no
repeat within 12 months.

The bill now goes to the rubber-stamp upper chamber, where no opposition is
expected. It then must be signed by President Vladimir Putin, who has signaled
his support.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists that family conflicts do "not
necessarily constitute domestic violence."

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The passage by the parliament, or Duma, reverses a ruling by the Supreme Court
last year, subsequently backed by parliament, that decriminalized battery that
does not inflict bodily harm, but retained criminal charges involving battery
against family members. That reform is effectively reversed by Friday's vote.
 Andrei Isayev of the main Kremlin faction, the United Russia, said lawmakers are
“heeding the public call” by correcting a mistake they made last year.

Russia is one of three countries in Europe and Central Asia that do not have laws
specifically targeting domestic violence, according to The Economist.

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Critics of the new measure warned it would encourage domestic violence and fuel
crime.

“This bill would establish violence as a norm of conduct,” Communist lawmaker

Yuri Sinelshchikov said during the debate.

Women's rights lawyer Mari Davtyan told The Moscow Times that the legislative
moves are dangerous and "send a message that the state doesn’t consider
familial battery fundamentally wrong anymore.”

A survey this month by state-run pollster VTsIOM found 19% of Russians said “it
can be acceptable” to hit one’s wife, husband or child “in certain circumstances,”
the Associated Press reported. The nationwide poll by phone of 1,800 people
was held Jan. 13-15. The survey had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.

Egypt