Ei-iE

The Third World Congress of Education International, meeting in Jomtien, Thailand, from 25 to 29 July, 2001:

1. Recalls that the constitution commits EI "to combat all forms of racism and of bias or discrimination in education and society due to gender, marital status, sexual orientation, age, religion, political opinion, social or economic status or national or ethnic origin";

2. Recognises EI's commitment to promoting the equality of men and women, of boys and girls in society, in education and in the trade union movement and supports the efforts of EI in reinforcing the participation of women in EI's activities through, among other strategies, the use of quotas for women's participation;

3. Notes that while the majority of members of EI member organizations are women, fewer women than men hold positions of responsibility in teacher unions;

4. Recognises that the economic conditions of women are lower than those of men, and that structural adjustment policies applied through neoliberalism have worsened the status of women, who are today more vulnerable;

5. Recognises also that women do not truly benefit from the same opportunities as men in any part of the world and that they continue to struggle for equality, respect, dignity, development and peace, equity in healthcare, social security, well-being needed to recover self-esteem;

6. Recalls the UNICEF report on the State of the World's Children, 1999 and the Beijing Platform highlight the lack of educational opportunities for women and girls;

7. Notes that the Second World Congress of Education International determined that EI and member organizations shall establish a work programme in each region to, among other things, ensure that a gender analysis is an integral part of all research and analysis done by EI .

8. Recalls the EI development cooperation policy adopted by the 2nd World Congress which notes that development cooperation draws on the concepts of independence, promotion of democracy, of quality public education services for all, increasing autonomy, gender equity, sustainable development, long-term planning and mutual respect;

9. Recognises the importance of the current EI and member organisations' development cooperation programmes in increasing the participation of women in education unions and in their employment as educators;

10. Recognises that while development projects improve conditions and leadership opportunities for women in the teacher unions and education communities, more programmes are needed to ensure effective gender equality over the long term;

11. Recognises further that successful gender projects and other projects that are oriented towards the improvement of women's rights in development cooperation enable women to share among themselves but also enable them to represent their interests in the mainstream of the union, the community and their country;

12. Recognises the extreme importance of promoting sustainability of women's programmes;

13. Acknowledges that in regard to gender projects in development cooperation, training for the union leadership as well as the grassroots is required in order to achieve sustainability and to mainstream not marginalised women's issues;

14. The Congress determines that EI and its member organizations must, in monitoring the work on gender and development cooperation, commit to:

a. Support the continuing need for projects and programmes on gender issues, targeted at women and other projects and programmes, aimed at improving the rights and the role of women, and not only targeted at them;

b. Lobby towards governments in order to improve the economic, social and educational conditions of women and girls;

c. Provide gender awareness training and training on other issues of concern to women for union leaders, union staff and women at continental, national, regional and local levels and contribute to the increasing participation of women in positions of responsibility by looking for means to reconcile trade union responsibilities and family life;

d. Develop a gender analysis instrument to assess the overall impact of proposed programmes and projects and ensure that such analysis is undertaken for all development cooperation project proposals;

e. Incorporate an analysis of the current situation of the union to provide a basis for evaluation of the project outcomes, in particular, sustainability;

f. Include indicators of quality and sustainability as well as quantifying measures in project evaluation and measures of project effectiveness;

g. Carry on the campaigns for full protection of maternity, breast-feeding, and care of pre-school children;

h. Include on the negotiation agendas of EI member organisations, issues of concern specifically to women;

i. Stimulate the development of curricula that promote non sexist education;

j. Dedicate larger ressources to the development of projects for women;

k. Strengthen and consolidate the networks of women educators per region, and move on with regional plans to ensure that experiences are shared, both in instances where gender and development has made progress and where it is only just starting to boost initiatives in each organisation.