Ei-iE

A joint statement was issued on 1 May by all Cambodian trade unions, including EI member organisation the Cambodia Independent Teachers' Association (CITA), calling for investigation into the murder of trade union leaders.

This month, EI is pleased to announce the launch of the new EFAIDS Programme website: www.ei-ie.org/efaids.

April 28 is a day to commemorate the 2 million workers who die, the 1.2 million who are injured, and the 160 million who fall ill each year due to unsafe, unhealthy, or unsustainable work and workplaces. AIDS is among the principal causes of death and illness amongst workers and...

In the framework of its EFAIDS Programme, the BTU/Botswana has recently been engaged in a number of worthwhile activities. Whether engaged in advocacy work to improve the rights of people living with HIV and AIDS or reinforcing partnerships towards the achievement of Education for All (EFA), the union has been...

In October 2006 a competition for schools participating in the KNUT/AFT HIV/AIDS programme got off the ground with the involvement of 105 schools. EI provided support for this initiative which was heralded as an excellent method of motivating schools to step up their HIV/AIDS education efforts.

Earlier this year we reported on the detention of three elected officers of the Ethiopian Teachers Association (ETA), including Meqcha Mengistu, a member of the Committee for the implementation of the EFAIDS Programme. The three men were finally released on 22 March after three months of imprisonment and torture and...

Education International represents teachers unions worldwide and, as such, is one of the sectoral global unions confronted with the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Clearly many other trade union organisations from other sectors also face the impact of the pandemic. Just as the teachers represented by EI, also the miners, the...

Late last month, Paris was the setting for the 4th Francophone Conference on HIV and AIDS. Speakers participating in the event underlined the urgent need to pursue a dual approach to fighting AIDS which would give priority to both prevention and treatment.

In March UNAIDS and the WHO issued official recommendations on the basis of new evidence demonstrating that circumcised men are up to 60% less likely to get HIV than those who are not. Since then, experts have issued statements warning that this evidence should be greeted with caution. Although circumcision...

Over the last year the Global Unions organised five sub-regional workshops on HIV and AIDS in Africa which were attended by national trade union centres and unions. EI affiliates played a key role in these events.

EI expresses its shock at the murder of 33 people on the campus of Virginia Tech on 16 April by a lone gunman. 17 others were wounded.

The Chairperson of EI member organisation, the Ethiopian Teachers' Association (ETA), has finally been released from police custody, after the court cleared him of the charges brought against him.

EI sent a strong message to the Greek Minister of National Education and Religious Affairs on 4 April, condemning the use of violence by the police against teacher unionists and students during their demonstration on 8 March.

The three elected officers of the Ethiopian Teachers Association (ETA) detained since December 2006 have finally been released on 22 March. Tilahun Ayalew, Meqcha Mengistu and Antenech Getenet were detained and tortured by the police for over three months. They were freed from custody when they last appeared in court...

EI sent a message to the Prime Minister of Thailand on 30 March, expressing its concerns about the level of violence in the south of the country. According to the UN, over 2000 lives have been lost in the past 3 years, including those of 60 teachers.

Representatives from EI, the Southern African Teacher Organisation (SATO) and the Southern African Trade Union Co-ordinating Council (SATCC) are currently in Botswana to show solidarity with the President of the Botswana Teachers' Union (BTU), Japhta Radibe.

The Global Unions launched the Zero Cancer campaign in Geneva, Switzerland on 23 March with a occupational cancer prevention guide for workers.

EI has written to the President of Guatemala on 21 March supporting the demands of its member organisation, the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Educación de Guatemala (STEG).