Ei-iE

On behalf of teachers and education workers around the world, Education International expresses its heartfelt condolences to the families and school communities of the victims of yesterday's tragic school shooting in Finland.

The recent political change in Nepal coincided with the incorporation of the Nepalese teacher unions into the EI EFAIDS Programme. Working in partnership, the Nepal National Teachers’ Association (NNTA) and the Nepal Teachers’ Association (NTA) plan to carry out joint activities and training under the Nepal EI EFAIDS Programme.

The EI EFAIDS Evaluation and Planning Workshop for EI staff and partners was held in early September and provided an opportunity to review the Programme which has expanded steadily since 2006 and is now successfully implemented in almost fifty countries across four regions.

The recent incorporation of the National Union of Education Institutes (NUEI) to the EFAIDS Programme in Uganda reaches out to non-teaching staff in schools. The Uganda National Teachers Union, working on the Programme since 2006, is confident that the partnership will benefit EFAIDS work.

World AIDS Day on 1 December is an opportunity to emphasise education for HIV prevention and combat stigma on AIDS with colleagues and students. Building on the success of last year, the EI EFAIDS Programme has prepared a ‘One Hour on AIDS’ activity kit which teachers around the world can...

The XVII International AIDS Conference, with 25,000 participants, brought together representatives from many sectors working on HIV/AIDS issues. For a few days AIDS was the focus of a busy schedule of presentations, debates and interaction. But what happens now? With UNAIDS reporting a shortfall of US$8 billion in AIDS funding...

Birendra P. Shrestha, General Secretary of Nepal Teachers' Association (NTA) and Baburam Adhikari, General Secretary of Nepal National Teachers' Association (NNTA) attended the inaugural EI EFAIDS workshop in Nepal that took place from 25th until 28th June 2008.

According to the latest news on Farsi websites, the situation of Iranian teacher trade unionist Farzad Kamangar remains critical. Farzad is still alive, but facing the death sentence which has not yet been commuted. At present, he is in solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison in section 209, the...

A bloody decade of civil war in which more than 130,000 Nepalese people were killed came to an end earlier this year. National elections took place on April 10 in a peaceful atmosphere, despite serious violence and human rights violations during the campaign.

Iranians are using the internet to exercise their right to free expression as never before - despite strict prohibitions and severe penalties imposed by the authorities.

A teacher who published online photos of schools that collapsed due to the Sichuan earthquake has been ordered to serve one year of Reeducation-Through-Labour, according to Human Rights in China.

The final deadline to apply for the Global Labour University programme at the University of Campinas in Brazil has been extended to September 20th.

For World AIDS Day on 1 December 2008, EI invites its member organisations to participate in the "One Hour on AIDS" initiative.

On 25 February 2008, the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Farzad Kamangar to death on charges of "endangering national security" and "enmity against God" (moharebe). The death penalty was confirmed by the Supreme Court on 11 July.

EI launched an urgent action appeal on 14 August in a bid to save Farzad Kamangar, a 33-year old teacher and former trade unionist from the Kurdistan Province of Iran, who is currently at risk of being executed following the ruling issued at an unfair trial.

Three teachers who joined a committee in support of Farzad Kamangar have been imprisoned, and several other trade unionists who have been calling for re-examination of his case are now receiving threats and phone calls from the Ministry of Intelligence, which does not hesitate to call family members of activists...

EI has written to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to deplore that the Charities and Societies Proclamation, a draft law, is a covert means of placing civil society organisations under government control. EI joined Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International in their criticism of the proposed legislation.

The recent controversy in South Africa on making condoms available in schools highlighted what remains a sensitive issue in some societies. The fear that sex education combined with access to contraception, including condoms, encourages young people to have sex at an early age is a very real concern for many...