World Social Forum, 19-23 January 2006
An EI delegation led by Deputy General Secretary, Elie Jouen, participated in the World Social Forum held recently in Bamako, Mali. Two other forums will be organised soon, the first in Caracas, Venezuela and the second in Karachi, Pakistan.
Together with its Malian affiliate SNEC, EI organised two workshops on "Education For All (EFA): 5 years after" and "GATS and Education after Hong Kong". Both workshops were highly successful in terms of the participation rate and the quality of the discussions. For the first time, the World Social Forum was organised on the African continent in one of its poorest countries. The delegation participated with thousands of representatives from NGOs and trade unions in a march against poverty, which marked the first phase of the forum's opening day. In 2007, the Forum will take place in Nairobi, Kenya. At the same time, EI's Africa Regional Office has also held a training workshop on "GATS and Education For All in Africa", for some of its affiliates. For more information about the World Social Forum, visit its website.
