Ei-iE

A conference held in Montenegro from 27 – 30 September 2007 marked the start of a new project on Strengthening the Education Trade Unions in the countries that were part of former Yugoslavia.

EI is finalizing the registration of participants for the 52nd Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The session runs from February 25 until March 7, 2008 in New York. The EI delegation will focus its attention on meetings held during the first week.

To mark World AIDS Day, Education International is challenging educators around the world to teach the same lesson as part of a new initiative called "One Hour on AIDS."

The Council of Global Unions*, headed by the EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen, protested against the arrests of several trade union leaders following the imposition of the state of emergency earlier in November.

EI and the other Global Unions are participating in a global initiative to stop violence against women, running from 25 November (UN Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women) until UN Human Rights Day on 10 December.

The EI Executive Board met in Brussels from 19-20 November to discuss and formulate working plans on the mandates it has received from the EI World Congress held earlier in July in Berlin.

The Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF) adopted an action plan on 19 Nov to address the many challenges presented by cyberbullying within the context of schools and the professional lives of teachers.

British scholars are urging colleagues in universities around the world to take action on climate change in order to 'green' their university campuses and curricula.

Although they have made significant progress, women in academe continue to face persistent barriers to professional equality, particularly in fields such as computer science and engineering.

EI deplores the murder of two teacher trade unionists within the past week

In an era of global insecurity, fundamental rights and freedoms are increasingly threatened on university campuses, as in society at large.

Education International is joining with affiliates and Spanish partners to host a major international conference on higher education and research.

Education International activists join fellow trade unionists across many countries in mourning the loss of Heribert Maier, one of the outstanding international trade union leaders of his generation. Heribert was also a member of EI’s Committee of Experts on Membership since 1996.

On behalf of all education workers around the world, EI expresses its heartfelt condolences to the victims of the gun rampage and all Finnish colleagues.

Canada has become the first WTO member to take advantage of new pharmaceutical licensing rules intended to improve access to essential medicines in developing countries.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says that developing nations need to "think carefully" before signing bilateral and regional free trade agreements with the developed world.

The future of the World Trade Organization's troubled Doha Round of talks remains in doubt again as negotiators from developing and developed countries have been unable to bridge their deep differences despite a series of intensive negotiations in September.

In an email dated 29 October 2007, Gemoraw Kassa, General Secretary of the Ethiopian Teachers' Association(ETA), informed EI that the Ethiopian Federal Supreme Court decided on that day to release on bail detained colleagues Anteneh Getnet, Berhanu Aba-Debissa, Wolde Dana, along with Wibit Ligamo, Dana’s wife.