Aligned with our advocacy efforts towards UN mandate holders to strengthen public education and human rights standards continuously, as well as address crucial issues affecting the right to education, we participated in the High-level Informal Presidential Discussion on new technologies, artificial intelligence, and digital divide and their impact on human rights, organised by the President of the Human Rights Council on Tuesday, 3 September 2024.

This informal discussion allowed delegations and civil society to share their efforts and concerns regarding the human implications of new technologies, artificial intelligence, and the digital divide. The various stakeholders who contributed expressed widespread consensus, aligning the panel discussions by emphasising the urgent need for more precise guidance on human rights in the digital age and the impact of emerging technologies.

Our representative, Rose Adjoa Maginnis, delivered an oral statement emphasising the impact of artificial intelligence on the right to education. The statement drew attention to the risks posed by AI and the digitalisation of education more broadly, including the deepening of existing inequalities, the commodification of education, and the potential erosion of its status as a fundamental human right.

We underscored the urgent need for robust regulatory frameworks that ensure transparency, accountability, and the integration of human rights principles at every stage of digitalisation and AI development and deployment in educational contexts.

This participation is aligned with our efforts to ensure that digital technologies, including AI, serve the public good and uphold the fundamental right to education.

For more information, consult the submission below.