Education in ancient times was essentially regarded as something based upon concepts of

wealth, power and status and or religion, trade or beliefs which is why only people in higher
social classes were educated. The development of access to education primarily began in
19th-century Europe, such as how in 1870 the British Parliament passed the Education Act
1870 (UK) which meant that by 1880 education became compulsory for all children between
the ages of 5-10 but was eventually extended to 12 years old in 1889. Previously however
Churches offered Sunday Schools which taught children writing, reading and arithmetic.
Similarly in France in 1880 that resulted in all children 15 years old and younger being
required to attend school using either free or secular educational means. In Australia
however several pieces of legislation were developed concerning education which made
education free and compulsory for all children in the 1870’s. Then in 1880, the NSW
government passed the Public Instruction Act (NSW) this resulted in the government taking
control of all schools which were run as part of the various churches except the Catholic
Church. In 1990 the Education Act 1990 (NSW) was passed which meant that for children
aged 6-15 education was compulsory, this was until the amendment made in 2010 which
meant all children until the age of 17 were required to attend school. This is a key reason as
to why the literacy rate in Australia is 99%.

Despite measures being taken there is still an estimated 244 million children worldwide who
remain uneducated, two-thirds of which are female. In the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights the right to education is enshrined under Article 26 which has resulted in an increase
of global education but due to reasons such as poverty many children are still not being
educated as they are needed to work to support their family. Another development which has
been made as a way of protecting the human right to education is the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Convention Against
Discrimination in Education which was the first international agency to focus primarily on the
fundamental right of education for all people globally that is bound by international law, that
currently has as of January 2024 has 109 member parties. It believes that any form of
discrimination in regards to an individual’s right to education should be forbidden as
education is not a luxury but a fundamental right, UNESCO Convention against
Discrimination in Education also promotes equality as another vital element. Even with these
initiatives being implemented, countries such as Mozambique are still discriminating against
individuals and denying them the right to education for reasons including children who have
the condition of albinism.
Peace rights encompass the right of citizens to expect their government to do all in its power
to maintain peace and work towards the elimination of war. Article 1 of the Declaration on the
Right to Peace, it further states that “Everyone has the right to enjoy peace such that all
human rights are promoted and protected, and development is fully realised.” A significant
element of peace rights includes Article 39 of the United Nations Charter which expresses
how the Security Council has the means to authorise actions to maintain or restore peace.
This is important as it means that the Security Council has the power to become involved in
a conflict when in the interest of maintaining or restoring peace to nations. An example of
this is when in 1990 the UN applied sanctions to Iraq after they invaded Kuwait. Additionally,
the use of Article 39 remains somewhat controversial because of how in 2003 countries
including Britain and the United States invaded Iraq this was highly controversial since the
Security Council did not give these countries authority to invade Iraq yet the nations claimed
it was justifiable under Article 39 and this is still currently being debated.

A further aspect of peace rights is how they have averted the threat of nuclear war, primarily
due to treaties on arms reductions between the former USSR, modern-day Russia and the
United States. This is also because of various international conventions which have reduced
the testing and production of nuclear and other weapons which can be used for mass
destruction. Peace rights have also led to the acts of crimes of aggression being defined
under the Rome Statute officially as “the planning, preparation, initiation or execution, by a
person in a position effectively to exercise control over or to direct the political or military
action of a State, of an act of aggression which, by its character, gravity and scale,
constitutes a manifest violation of the Charter of the United Nations.”

Finally, the development of peace rights introduced the Sustainable Development Goals
specifically Goal 16 which has the primary responsibility of ‘Promoting a peaceful and
inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build
effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels 2023 Progress Report on the
Sustainable Development Goal 16 revealed how statistically there was an increase globally
of conflict and other issues about obtaining peace including how in 2022 witnessed more
than 50% increase in conflict-related civilian deaths, largely due to the war in Ukraine and
also increased rate of people who have been displaced on a global scale with a total of
108.4 million people which is an increase of 19 million people compared to 2021
Civilian deaths directly related to 12 of the world’s deadliest conflicts increased by 53%
between 2021 and 2022
Over time there has been an increase in the development and contributions of formal
statements on human rights. A key component of this is the formation of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 which was established primarily due to the atrocities
that occurred in World War Two (1939-1945) it was seen as important to have a document
outlining what is considered to be human rights. The UDHR further affirms the promotion of
universal respect and observance of human rights and the dignity and worth of the person.
Despite the global adoption of elements of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR) it is still however viewed as soft law due to it being technically not legally binding,
this is what makes it soft law but the rights are so widely accepted that they have become
part of the general principles of international law and have arguably become part of
international customary law.

The UDHR has had a major contribution to the global recognition of human rights as it has
been used as a basis for more than 200 international treaties, treaties, conventions,
declarations and bills of rights in the last 50 years. As well as this the UDHR has further
been used as the foundation document for eight core human rights treaties including the
ICCPR and the ICESCR.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and The International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. (ICESCR) were both created in 1966
and were based upon the UDHR as they formed what is known as the International Bill of
Rights. Due to the Cold War era which occurred in the 1960’s both treaties were created due
to tensions as well as the fact that when the UDHR was first thought about it was decided
that it would have was intended to include three components: the Declaration, an
international treaty relating to it and measures of implementation. Rights under both treaties
include how the ICCPR recognises the rights of equality between genders, the right to vote
and the right to freedom from torture and slavery. Similarly, the ICESCR recognises rights
including that of people have the right to self-determination, the right to determine their
political status and pursue their economic, social and cultural development. People must not
be deprived of their right to subsistence, the right to education and the right to live in
adequate conditions.

A final aspect of the development of a formal statement of human rights is the Genocide
Convention is highly significant as it was not only the first time in history that genocide was
officially criminalised but also because it lead to widespread condemnation of the war crimes
perpetrated against the Jews in concentration camps of Nazi Germany. Furthermore, it was
also the first piece of hard law developed by the UN, meaning it can theoretically be
enforced.