The DPE is mainly intended as a blueprint for EI affiliates' own guidelines. It is complementary to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1998) and draws on the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers (1966) and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (1948).
Its objectives are:
to raise consciousness about the norms and ethics of the teaching profession;
to help increase job satisfaction in education; to enhance status and self-esteem, and;
to increase respect for the profession in communities.