Treading through a trajectory of broken statutes: (non) compliance to global instruments in internally displaced persons' education, Zimbabwe

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Zimbabwean internally displaced children's (IDC) access to education is largely hindered by non-adherence to international instruments as well as failure to implement these into domestic law. The paper aims to unpack the conditions leading to the failure to implement both international and domestic laws in IDPs' rights to education in Zimbabwe. In this qualitative research, access to education is analysed through the lens of rights and obligations outlined in international and domestic instruments. These include the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (GPID), Kampala Convention and domestic laws such as the Constitution of Zimbabwe. The paper concludes that Zimbabwean IDPs' entitlements to education are generally titular as most IDPs do not enjoy these. It also establishes that obligations to provide education for IDC have largely been unmet which then deconstructs the role of agency as propounded by the capabilities approach. This creates a gap between the provisions of international human rights laws and their implementation in Zimbabwe's domestic law on education. Consequently, the IDPs are deprived of both their rights to education and related achievements, perpetuating their vulnerability.