Education for All > Background Documents >
United Nations General Assembly Resolution

A/C.3/52/L.II/Rev.1 / 29 October 1997
(approved by the Third Committee on 6 November 1997)

The General Assembly,

Recalling that in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (3) the right of every individual to education is recognized as inalienable,

Recalling also its resolutions 45/104 of 7 December 1987, by which it proclaimed 1990 as International Literacy Year, and 44/127 of 15 December 1989, 46/93 of 16 December 1991 and 50/143 of 21 December 1995, in which it called for continuing international efforts to promote literacy,

Recalling further its resolution 45/126 of 14 December 1990, in which it called for strengthening efforts towards the elimination of illiteracy of women of all ages,

Mindful of the fact that eradication of illiteracy is one of the paramount objectives of the International Development Strategy for the Fourth United Nations Development Decade, (4)

Deeply concerned about the persistence of the gender gap in education which is reflected by the fact that nearly two thirds of the world's adult illiterates are women,

Convinced that literacy, especially functional literacy and adequate education, represents an indispensable element for the development and harnessing of science, technology and human resources for economic and social progress,

Recalling its resolution 49/184, entitled AUnited Nations Decade for Human Rights Education, and taking note with satisfaction of resolution 1997/7 of the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities of the Commission on Human Rights on the realization of the right to education, including education in human rights,

Confident that the International Literacy Year and the World Conference on Education for All, held in Jomtien, Thailand, in 1990, resulted in increase awareness and support for literacy efforts and becoming a turning point in the struggle for a literate world,

Welcoming the Amman Affirmation (5), the final communiqué of the mid-decade meeting of the International Consultative Forum on Education for All, adopted at Amman in June 1996, which reaffirmed the necessity for and possibility of bringing the benefits of education for all,

Recognizing that, despite the significant progress in basic education, especially the increase in primary school enrolment coupled with a growing emphasis on the quality of education, major problems, both emerging and continuing, still persist which require even more forceful and concerted action at national and international levels to achieve the goal of education for all,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General and the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and cultural Organization entitled AProgress report on the implementation process of the education for all objectives; (6)

2. Reaffirms that basic education for all is essential for achieving the goals of eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving gender equality, and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy;

3. Acknowledges the efforts of the mid-decade review of progress towards achieving the goals of education for all in identifying both continuing and emerging challenges and stressing the need to meet those challenges and to accelerate the efforts to meet the basic needs of people of all age groups, particularly girls and women;

4. Appeals to all Governments to step up their efforts to eradicate illiteracy and to direct education towards the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms;

5. Also appeals to all Governments to redouble their efforts to achieve their own goals of education for all by setting from targets and timetables, where possible, including gender-specific education targets and programmes to combat the illiteracy of women and girls, and, by working in active partnership with communities, associations, the media and development agencies, to reach those targets;

6. Appeals anew to Governments and to economic and financial organizations and institutions, both national and international, to lend greater financial and material support to the efforts to increase literacy and achieve education for all;

7. Invites Member States, the specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system and relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to further intensify their efforts to effectively implement the World Declaration on Education for All (7), the Amman Affirmation, and the Hamburg Declaration on Adult Learning and the Agenda for the Future of Adult Learning adopted at the Fifth International Conference on Adult Education (Hamburg, 14-18 July 1997), as well as the relevant commitments and recommendations to promote literacy contained in the recent major United Nations-sponsored international conferences, with a view to better coordinating their activities and increasing their contribution to development;

8. Recommends that all Member States, and relevant organizations of the United Nations, as well as non-governmental organizations, provide the necessary information on the implementation of the strategies of education for all to the Secretary-General of the United nations and the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization so as to enable them to report on the overall progress achieved and the shortfalls encountered in attaining the goal of education for all;

9. Requests the Secretary-General, in cooperation with the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and in consultation with Member States, to consider effective ways and means for achieving the goal of education for all, including the desirability and the feasibility of launching a United Nations decade to eradicate illiteracy, and to report thereupon to the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session, through the Economic and Social Council ;

10. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-fourth session the question of cooperation towards education for all under the item on social development.

ED/EFA

11. 97

1. Resolution 217 A (III)

2. Resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex

3. Resolution 44/25, annex

4. Resolution 45/199, annex

5. A/52/183, annex

6. A/52/183.

7. Final Report of the World Conference on Education for All: Meeting Basic Learning Needs, Jomtien, Thailand, 5-9 March 1990, Inter-Agency Commission (UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank) for the World Conference on Education for All, New York, 1990, appendix I.