Education for Justice and the Rule of Law in the Context of Sustainable Development

A/RES/74/172View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 106 Crime prevention and criminal justice, published in 2020.

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Crime Prevention Criminal Justice Education Rule of Law Sustainable Development

What’s in this document?

13 operative paragraphs

Reiterates its invitation to Governments to take into consideration the Doha Declaration on Integrating Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice into the Wider United Nations Agenda to Address Social and Economic Challenges and to Promote the Rule of Law at the National and International Levels, and Public Participation,7 adopted by the Thirteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, when formulating legislation and policy directives and to make every effort, where appropriate, to implement the principles contained therein, in conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations;

Recalls the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,6 in which Member States committed themselves to the Sustainable Development Goals and targets and to ensuring that all learners acquired the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including through education for sustainable development;

Urges Member States to provide access to education for all, including technical and professional skills, and to promote lifelong learning skills for all, and invites Member States to promote educational programmes related to crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law, in particular for children and young people;

Calls upon Member States to integrate crime prevention and criminal justice strategies into all relevant social and economic policies and programmes, in particular those affecting youth, with a special emphasis on programmes focused on increasing educational and employment opportunities for youth and young adults;

Invites Member States, in accordance with domestic legislation, to encourage strengthened cooperation between the crime prevention and criminal justice sectors and the education sector, as well as other relevant sectors, to promote the integration of education on justice and the rule of law into their education systems and programmes;

Emphasizes the right to education, recognizes that investment in universal, quality and inclusive education and training is the most important investment that States can make to ensure the short- and long-term development of youth, reiterates that access to inclusive, equitable and quality formal and non-formal education at all levels, including, as appropriate, catch-up and literacy education, including in information and communications technologies, for those who did not receive formal education, information and communications technologies and volunteerism are important factors that enable young people to acquire the relevant skills and to build their capacities, including for employability and entrepreneurial development, and to obtain decent and productive work, and calls upon Member States to take the actions necessary to ensure that young people have access to such services and opportunities, which will allow them to be drivers of development;

Invites Member States to develop awareness-raising programmes to convey key values based on the rule of law and supported by educational programmes, to be accompanied by economic and social policies promoting equality, solidarity and justice, and to reach out to young people, drawing on them as agents of positive change;

Also invites Member States to intensify, in line with their domestic legal frameworks, national and international efforts to eliminate all forms of discrimination, including racism, religious intolerance, xenophobia and gender-related discrimination, by, inter alia, raising awareness, developing educational materials and programmes and considering, where appropriate, drafting and enforcing legislation against discrimination and, to these ends, to strive to achieve all relevant Sustainable Development Goals, including Goals 4, 5, 8, 10 and 16;

Welcomes the ongoing work of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, within its mandate, in the area of education on justice and the rule of law, including under the Education for Justice initiative, which is a key component of the Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration: Towards the Promotion of a Culture of Lawfulness;

Requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to continue its efforts to promote education on the rule of law and justice in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, in particular under the Global Citizenship Education for the Rule of Law: Doing the Right Thing partnership, and welcomes in this regard the launch of the joint publication entitled Strengthening the Rule of Law through Education: A Guide for Policymakers;

Notes that the main theme of the Fourteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, to be held in Kyoto, Japan, in 2020, is “Advancing crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda”, and welcomes the fruitful discussions and deliberations at the regional preparatory meetings for the Fourteenth Congress on that subject, particularly those relating to education;

Requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to report on its activities to promote education on justice in the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the Doha Declaration to be submitted at the Fourteenth Congress;

Invites Member States and other donors to provide extrabudgetary resources for the purposes described above, in accordance with the rules and procedures of the United Nations.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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