The Right to Early Childhood Care and Education – Part 2

Sophie Smith — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 12:12:00 +0000

International human rights law should protect and promote every individual’s human rights. But the reality is that international covenants on human rights appear remote and unattainable for the vast majority of ordinary people. This perception is supported by the structure of international human rights law, which is based on agreements between States and on the expectation that States will be true to their obligations in relation to the human rights of their own citizens. This podcast, however, recounts how international human rights can become a collaborative project, with individuals and civil society working from the grassroots upwards and from the international sphere downwards to develop and enforce human rights obligations on States.

The subject matter of this journey is one of central importance: the care and education of the youngest amongst us. Our interviewees today have been a part of a process of advocating for and advancing the protection of early childhood education as a human right through collaborative ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ approaches. We will be speaking with project partners from a variety of organisations who share their experience of shaping human rights law interpretation and enforcement through practical advocacy, particularly on the right to ECCE.

In the second epsiode of this series we speak to Rajakumari Michaelsamy, programme manager at Right to Education Initiative (RTE) and Africa Early Childhood Network (AfECN) representatives Alicia Lutomia and Esther Nyamatini.

RightsUp is brought to you by the Oxford Human Rights Hub.

The Executive Producer is Meghan Campbell.

This episode was produced, edited and hosted by me, Sophie Smith.

Music for this series is by Rosemary Allmann.

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Convention on the Rights of the Child | OHRH

The Right to Early Childhood Care and Education – Part 2