The Abidjan Principles were developed by a committee of experts following a three-year consultation process to clarify the aspects of existing international human rights law that pertain to education and provide guidance on their implementation.
[4] Their purpose is to offer states and other actors a reference frame for addressing tensions and questions related to the involvement in education of private and commercial entities.
The Abidjan Principles were developed to bring clarity to what international treaty law requires of state actors as they increasingly work with a host of non-state entities.
[11][12] The Abidjan Principles have also been critiqued in some quarters under the argument that they place severe restrictions on private education and interfere with parental choice regarding children's schooling.
The principles have also been invoked by the Tax Justice Network (TJN), Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN).