A/HRC/8/52 page 21 1. Welcomes the work of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education and takes note of his reports on girls’ right to education (E/CN.4/2006/45, as well as Add.1), on the right to education of persons with disabilities (A/HRC/4/29, as well as Adds.1, 2 and 3) and on the right to education in emergency situations (A/HRC/8/10, as well as Adds.1, 2, 3 and 4), and of the report of the Secretary-General on economic, social and cultural rights (A/HRC/7/58); 2. Notes with interest the work carried out by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Rights of the Child in the promotion of the right to education, notably through the issuing of general comments and concluding observations and the holding of days of general discussion; 3. Welcomes the work undertaken by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the promotion of the right to education at the country, regional and headquarters levels, including the development of a list of indicators on the right to education; 4. Also welcomes the contribution of the United Nations Children’s Fund and that of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization towards attaining the Millennium Development Goals of achieving universal primary education and eliminating gender disparity in education and the goals of the Education for All initiative agreed upon at the World Education Forum; 5. Further welcomes the establishment of the Education Cluster by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee in November 2006 as an important mechanism to assess and address, in a coordinated manner, educational needs in emergency situations, including by promoting the implementation of the minimum standards for education in emergencies developed by the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies, and calls on donors to support it financially; 6. Welcomes the proclamation by the General Assembly of the World Programme for Human Rights Education, which began on 1 January 2005, and the continued progress of the United Nations Literacy Decade launched on 13 February 2003; 7. Urges all States: (a) To give full effect to the right to education and to guarantee that this right is recognized and exercised without discrimination of any kind; (b) To take all appropriate measures to eliminate obstacles limiting effective access to education, notably by girls, including pregnant girls and young mothers, children living in poor communities and rural areas, children belonging to minority groups, indigenous children, migrant children, refugee children, internally displaced children, children affected by armed conflicts, children affected by natural disasters, children with disabilities, children affected by infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, sexually exploited children, children deprived of their liberty, children living in the street, working children and orphaned children; (c) To ensure that primary education is compulsory, accessible and available free to all;