A/HRC/44/39 education crisis, with the most marginalized and vulnerable groups being hit hardest. Furthermore, it is most likely that the education crisis has affected more forcefully countries where public education systems are fragile and where there is no mutual trust between citizens and public institutions, no social dialogue with teachers’ unions and associations and no culture of nurturing a close relationship between schools, families and communities. 8. In preparation for her report, the Special Rapporteur participated in an online discussion on the rising inequalities in education due to the pandemic that was organized, under her mandate’s auspices, in cooperation with the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Right to Education Initiative. Intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations contributed, including UNESCO, the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Bank, the Global Partnership for Education and INEE. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur was invited to participate in two online discussions: one organized by the Comité syndical francophone de l’éducation et de la formation in cooperation with Education International on the situation and participation of teachers during the crisis and one organized by the Global Campaign for Education on difficulties faced by civil society and the impact of the crisis on the right to education. She warmly thanks all the contributors for their time and input, including those who spontaneously submitted reports and contributions.6 II. Legal and regulatory frameworks 9. Unlike the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights does not contain a provision on possible derogations from State obligations. 10. Therefore, during crises, States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights must continue to ensure the right to education (art. 13), an obligation also enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 26). Where measures limit Covenant rights, such as the closure or partial reopening of educational institutions, they should comply with the conditions set out in article 4 of the Covenant and article 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 11. As stressed by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in essence, measures adopted that limit Covenant rights must be necessary to combat the public health crisis posed by COVID-19 and be reasonable and proportionate. Emergency measures and powers adopted by States parties to address the pandemic should not be abused and should be lifted as soon as they are no longer necessary for protecting public health. In addition, responses to the pandemic should be based on the best available scientific evidence to protect public health.7 12. The Special Rapporteur concurs with the Committee that, as this pandemic and the measures taken to combat it have had a disproportionately negative impact on the most marginalized groups, States must make every effort to mobilize the necessary resources to combat COVID-19 in the most equitable manner, in order to avoid imposing a further economic burden on these marginalized groups. Allocation of resources should prioritize the special needs of these groups.8 13. The right to education is of particular importance to children. Like the Covenant, the Convention on the Rights of the Child does not contain a derogation clause. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has made clear, however, that restrictions imposed on children’s rights in order to protect public health must be imposed only when necessary, be proportionate and kept to an absolute minimum.9 Furthermore, any such restrictions should 6 7 8 9 The contributions received by the Special Rapporteur will be made available at www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Education/SREducation/Pages/SREducationIndex.aspx. E/C.12/2020/1, paras. 10–11. Ibid., para. 14. Committee on the Rights of the Child, statement dated 7 April 2020, available from https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT/CRC/ST A/9095&Lang=en. 5