Ei-iE

Eight EI affiliates in Benin have just set up a new joint committee called COSIEB to implement their HIV and AIDS education through schools programme. The eight unions organise teachers from early to higher education and will be able to reach out to teachers of all levels in Benin.

Michael Nasheya is the EFAIDS Coordinator at NANTU, the Namibia National Teachers' Union.

Teachers in Argentina joined a national strike convened by EI affiliate CTERA on October 4th to demand that those responsible for the assassination of Carlos Fuentealba be brought to justice.

Education International is deeply concerned by reports that up to 600 students have been denied exit from Gaza despite assurances from the Israeli authorities that they would be allowed to leave.

Teachers have been on strike for a month in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Education International has again demanded action by President Joseph Kabila to resolve the crisis.

Education International encourages all member organisations to write to the Burmese representatives in their countries following the recent violent repression used to break up peaceful demonstrations.

EI has written to Ehsanul Haque, Private Secretary to the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, expressing concern at the violent repression of university student protests.

The world must not stand aside, but must act in support of a free and democratic Burma. That is the message from the World Congress of the Public Services International, taking place in Vienna from 24 to 28 September.

EI affiliates the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union (TEWU) have just finalised research on HIV/AIDS in the education sector.

From June 26-28, the Honduran national HIV and AIDS teachers’ union prevention committee, coordinated by Rosario Avila (EFAIDS Programme Coordinator/COLPROSUMAH), together with EI, the EDC and CTERA/Argentina, organised an HIV and AIDS workshop at the headquarters of COPEMH in Tegucigalpa.

The EFAIDS programme has started to have an impact among students and teachers in Guyana, Suriname and Haiti. This was the overall conclusion drawn by the EI regional Coordinator Virginia Albert on a recent evaluation visit to these countries.

EI, the EDC and WHO have developed two new toolkits which will be the basis of training sessions carried out by teachers’ unions participating in the EFAIDS Programme over the coming months.

What has been the experience of teachers’ unions on the EFAIDS Programme thus far? How is the training of teachers on HIV/AIDS education developing? What challenges still lie in the path of the unions striving to achieve the Education for All goals? These and other questions were reflected upon at...

ActionAid have just published a report which develops new theories on the issue of sexual abstinence as a means of preventing HIV infection.

Schools across the world are being urged to join together in performing The Poverty Requiem on October 17th - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

EI is delighted to inform all members and Global Union partners that Raquel Castro, Colombian teacher and union activist, was released from prison last August 2nd.

Following the resolution passed by the 5th EI World Congress held in July 2007, EI urges the governor of the State of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, to find an immediate and satisfactory solution to end the conflict between the authorities and teachers.

The 5th EI World Congress held from 22-26 July in Berlin passed an urgent resolution on the current situation in Peru, where the conflict between the government and teachers has resulted in many arrested and one teacher killed.