On behalf of all its member organisations, EI has expressed its sympathy to its four affiliates in the Philippines after the entire village of Guinsaugon, in the town of St Bernard on the southern part of Leyte, in the central Philippines, was buried by a major landslide on Friday 17 Feb, following ten days of heavy rain.

EI strongly supports its Indonesian affiliate, PGRI's campaign to raise the country's education budget. In 2005, only 8.1% of its national budget was dedicated to education, far lower than that of neighbouring countries such as Thailand (27%) and Malaysia (20%).

EI has received information from its members in Nepal that all teachers' union leaders have been released from detention - the last one being released on Feb 16. EI affiliates in Nepal - NTA, NNTA and TUN - thank all EI member organisations for their support. It is obvious that international pressure helped.