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

EI has launched a new Education and Solidarity Network to help strengthen and develop solidarity-based social protection systems by mobilising professionals from the education sector around the world.

Together with UNESCO and UNICEF, EI's sub-regional organisation, the Council of Pacific Educators (COPE) organised a conference on "Improving the Status of Teachers as per ILO-UNESCO's 1966 Recommendation and promoting Children's Rights to Quality Education" from 18-20 August 2008 in Nadi, Fiji.

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.

The humanitarian crisis as a result of the conflict in Georgia is growing despite the declaration of a ceasefire and the commitment to the withdrawal of Russian troops.

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.

Education International welcomes the announcement that the military conflict in Georgia has ended, and calls for steps to be taken immediately to assist the families of those civilians who have been killed in the conflict and the many persons who have been displaced by the destruction of their homes. EI...

Education International (EI) has sent a message of solidarity to its affiliates in Algeria regarding the 35 teachers on hunger strike since 15 July 2008.

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...

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, states that “everyone has the right to education.”

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In a recent study entitled “Education Quality and Economic Growth”, the World Bank explores the strong link between educational quality and economic growth. However, the study’s definition of educational quality and some of the measures proposed for improving educational quality may be controversial.

Brazilian educators are celebrating a new law that establishes a national standard salary, bringing to an end decades of inequity between teachers’ salaries in different regions of the country.

"If we want education to be the main vector to achieve equal rights and combat discrimination, teachers themselves must first be set free," said EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen. He was speaking in Stockholm on 1 August at a seminar on "gay rights in education" organized by the Swedish...

After nine grueling days of negotiations, trade ministers meeting in Geneva July 21-30 admitted defeat in their attempts to reach a new global trade deal, but promised to regroup at a later date.

The latest issue of the Africa Regional Bulletin is now available for download.

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...