Earlier this year the European Commission in Brussels held a training seminar on HIV/AIDS for journalists from French-speaking ACP countries. At the event, EI staff introduced participants to the EFAIDS Programme being implemented by EI together with its affiliates and partner organisations, the WHO and EDC.

Subsequent to this meeting two of the journalists, one from Benin and one from Burkina Faso, were commissioned to write an article on the situation vis à vis EFA and HIV/AIDS education in their respective countries. These articles –on HIV/AIDS prevention efforts in schools in Benin, and on para-teachers in Burkina Faso - have since been published and can be obtained by contacting us.

In Lesotho, the Ministry of Education (MoE) has started implementing the Global Initiative on Education and HIV/AIDS (EDUCAIDS), a UNESCO led project aimed at enhancing the capacity of the Education Sector in responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Not so long ago, EDUCAIDS undertook a mapping exercise on the quality and scale of the national response of the Education Sector to HIV and AIDS which revealed that in Lesotho:

1. Collaboration between the MoE and NGOs on HIV/AIDS in education is lacking.
2. There is no education sector HIV/AIDS policy.
3. Lesotho has no forum for those involved in HIV/AIDS education.

Since then, the MoE has set up a steering committee to draft a comprehensive education sector policy. One of members of the committee is Mr. Ralitlhare Gabriel Ntoeba, National coordinator of the EFAIDS Programme for the Lesotho Association of Teachers (LAT). He and other members have already received training on policy development through the Institute of Development Management (IDM) in the Maseru district and drafting of the education sector policy is to begin soon.

Similar positive developments are being noted in Cote d’Ivoire where the national Minister of Education has just put together a Technical Working Group on the fight against HIV and AIDS. Two members of IESCI (Education International Cote d’Ivoire Section which is made up of the four teachers’ unions affiliated to EI there) have been selected to join this group.

The main objective of the working group is to improve the organisation of the fight against HIV and AIDS in support of teachers. The group will meet on a monthly basis to carry through its action plan as follows:

1. To identify the specific needs of the Ministry of Education
2. To act as a platform for action for the HIV/AIDS focal group of the Ministry and to adapt the recommendations and tools it has developed
3. To contribute to the implementation of the Ministry’s sectoral plan

For more information, please contact us.

The world will need another 18 million teachers in the next decade to provide every child with a primary education, according to a new report by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). The UIS report entitled "Teachers and Educational Quality: Monitoring Global Needs for 2015" also examines the status and working conditions of teachers and analyses factors such as training, salary scales and teaching hours.

In response to this new publication, EI emphasises that several key conditions must be met to ensure the delivery of quality education:

1. Life long teacher training programmes are essential to making teaching a more attractive career and encourage new professionals to join it.
2. Only properly qualified teachers should teach. The report identifies “serious problems with teacher training and quality”. EI opposes this trend.
3. Governments must improve their planning to avoid teacher shortage and attrition as well as overcrowded classrooms.

Overall EI supports the conclusions of the UIS report and recommends that:

1. The UIS report be distributed widely among governments
2. A similar report be undertaken by the UIS about the situation at secondary level.

To download the report and the regional profiles, please click here.

The UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team on Gender and HIV/AIDS has developed a new Resource Pack aimed at strengthening the impact of national HIV/AIDS programmes by tackling a key factor that fuels the epidemic: gender inequality.

The Resource Pack analyses the impact of gender relations on the AIDS epidemic and provides guidance, including tools for effective advocacy and programming and contains the following documents:

1. An Operational Guide on Gender and HIV/AIDS
2. A Review paper entitled ‘Integrating Gender into HIV/AIDS Programmes’
3. 17 Fact Sheets with information on gender related aspects of HIV/AIDS

For more information please click here.

Five years after the special session of the UN General Assembly on HIV/AIDS, the Secretary General of the UN has issued a report entitled ‘Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS: Five Years Later’. This short report gives an update on progress being made in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, identifies the outstanding challenges and makes a number of urgent recommendations for consideration by world leaders and beyond.

It concludes that ‘failure to urgently strengthen the AIDS response will mean that the world will achieve neither the 2010 targets of the Declaration of Commitment nor Millennium Development Goal 6. And without major progress in tackling AIDS, global efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty, hunger and childhood mortality will similarly fall short of agreed targets’.

Finally the report notes that the next UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) being held from 31 May to 2 June 2006 is the ideal setting for these renewed efforts to be brought to life. EI will be represented at the UNGASS meeting. A brief report of the meeting will be provided the next newsletter issue. To download the UN report ‘Five Years Later’ please click here .

UNAIDS has published a series of Reports which monitor the progress being made on the implementation of the UN Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS – adopted in 2001 by 189 UN member states. The Country Progress Reports include both narrative and summary indicator data.

These reports were used in the preparation of the 2006 Global AIDS Report which will be distributed at the UNGASS meeting (UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS) in New York at the end of May.

By clicking here you can access the country reports.

“ The original inspiration for the formation of the Irish Coalition for the Global Campaign for Education was membership of Education International. Three teacher unions in Ireland decided to actively support the Global Campaign and made contacts with a number of high profile development NGOs, all of which have long given prominence to basic education and gender equality.

The availability of a Solidarity Officer in the Irish Congress of Trade Unions was also very significant: Mr David Joyce, Congress Solidarity Officer, currently serves as the Chairperson of the Coalition. The Coalition also includes the Union of Secondary Students of Ireland and the National Youth Council of Ireland. In summary, all of the organisations which are members of the Coalition have a deep commitment to education and global justice. This common ethos is what motivates the work of the Coalition.”

“ The Coalition has defined its work as encompassing three strands – development education, campaigning and advocacy work. In terms of development education, the Coalition has produced a Teaching Resource Pack focusing on the right to education for use in the mandatory Civic, Social and Political Education course in the first three years of second level education.

This Pack was written by a practising teacher with the support of the curriculum support service for the course. It was distributed to all schools and is currently being used by teachers. In this manner, the Coalition is educating our young people about the Global Campaign for Education and the responsibility of our Government to continue to meet its international commitments.

In terms of campaigning work, the Coalition has had a number of meetings with the Minister for Development Aid and Human Rights to discuss the state’s aid policy for education. These meetings are ongoing and will receive increased prominence in terms of monitoring both the funds allocated to basic education and the recipient governments’ approach to teachers’ trade union and human rights.

The Coalition also regularly meets with senior officials in Irish Aid (state agency for development aid) and attends seminars on education issues, which often include representatives of aid recipient states and international organisations, including the World Bank.”

“ GAW in Ireland this year was marked by the issuing to all 4.000 primary and second level schools of the GAW poster and leaflet. The latter was adapted to encourage teachers and students to integrate the activities into different curricular areas. The Coalition also hosted a seminar on the theme of “Teachers Matter in Quality Education”.

This event was addressed by EI Campaigns Coordinator, Mr Wouter Van der Schaaf; Dr Margo O’Sullivan, lecturer in education; Mr Colm O’ Cuanachain, Director General of Amnesty International Ireland and Irish Minister of State for Development Aid and Human Rights, Mr Conor Lenihan.

The highlight of the Seminar was a presentation by a group of students on the theme of Education for All and the presentation of their dossier to the Minister of State. The Seminar was attended by educators, officials from Irish Aid, trade unions and development NGOs.”