Strengthening the Rule of Law through Education
A guide for policymakers
The role of education in building just and peaceful societies and trust in public institutions is increasingly recognized across the world. However, there is a lack of understanding among educational professionals about how this role can be best fulfilled and, more specifically, about the full meaning of the rule of law and its particular implications for education. This guide for policymakers seeks to fill this knowledge gap.
This document aims to provide an overview of how the education sector as a whole can leverage its transformational power to support and encourage young people to be positive and constructive members of society, while also mitigating challenges to the rule of law. As such, it seeks to complement already existing issue-specific guides focusing on single problems such as gang violence, trafficking etc.
This document can also be used as a base to build a shared vision among education stakeholder groups (in and out of formal education systems) on what education can and cannot do as a matter of priority to address challenges to the rule of law. It is a resource that can serve as a starting point for multi-stakeholder discussions on approaches to promote the rule of law and develop a culture of lawfulness.