Universal Periodic Review of Bangladesh

• Broken Chalk drafted this report to contribute to Bangladesh’s fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Since Broken Chalk is specifically concerned with human rights and inequalities in education, this report focuses on human rights, particularly in the education field of Bangladesh.
• This report first explores the main issues in education in Bangladesh while also reflecting on the recommendations Bangladesh received in the last review and its progress since 2018. Then, Broken Chalk offers some practical suggestions to Bangladesh on further improving human rights in education.
• In the last review, Bangladesh received 251 recommendations and accepted 178. 11% of the recommendations focused on reducing inequalities, 17% on gender equality and 7% on reducing poverty, all interconnected with education.
• High-quality, accessible and inclusive education is essential for a country’s long-term sustainable development. Education shapes the people of future society, helps integrate minorities and foreigners, and enables innovation and growth. According to the Human Rights Measurement Initiative, Bangladesh is doing 82.5% of what it could do with its national income to ensure the right to education^[1]. Although this score is relatively high, it still illustrates the gap between actual and feasible states regarding education.

^[1] Human Rights Measurement Initiative. (2022). Rights to Education