The right to education is an internationally recognized right. As part of the global movement for Education for All in the past two decades, the right to basic education has emerged in international law, and it carries international obligations--political and legal--on account of collective commitments by the international community for its realization. In monitoring the implementation of the right to education, emphasis is now laid on the right to basic education both in UNESCO and in the work of the United Nations human rights treaty bodies. The operational definition of basic education, elaborated by UNESCO in 2007, is a useful tool in this respect. (Contains 62 notes.)