The 5th World Congress of Education International (EI) meeting in Berlin, Germany from 22-26 July 2007,
1. Notes that a constant growth of the migration phenomenon characterises these first years of the 21st century. This has been described by several UN agencies, including ILO and UNIFEM, as a vital part of today's globalised world;
2. Underlines that the migration phenomenon in a globalised world must be approached with a clear policy of respect for the human, labour and trade union rights of persons who emigrate, in line with core international instruments of human and labour rights;
3. Affirms its conviction that migrants contribute towards the development of both their countries of origin and the host countries;
4. Observes that migration has the potential to stimulate cultural and economic exchanges among nations and promote peace and mutual understanding, but can also trigger difficult situations, both in the country of origin and destination;
5. Observes with concern the growing presence of women and children in this type of manipulated international migration, and the possible serious consequences for their physical and mental health;
6. Notes further that the global migration involves women moving voluntarily but also women and girls forced to migrate owing to armed conflicts, poverty, factory closures, gender violence and trafficking in persons;
7. Energetically rejects the practices of those who traffick in human beings, taking advantage of the conditions of poverty and precarious employment situations in which millions of people around the world live;
8. Concerned by the status of children in migration, the difficulties and risks they face, given the lack of adequate centres and access to education, and their vulnerability to abuse, sexual and commercial exploitation;
9. Concerned further that in many countries migrant children are even denied the right to education or receive an education of lower quality;
10. Notes the considerable number of educational workers in all categories who are swelling the ranks of migrants, which in many cases forces them to accept working conditions and salaries inferior to those of education professionals in the host countries;
11. Notes further that this also constitutes a considerable brain drain for the developing countries which trained them;
12. Recognises the fundamental role that trade union organisations must play in safeguarding the human and labour rights of migrants and their right to education;
13. Recognises further that trade unions play a key role in facilitating integration of migrants into host societies;
Taking the foregoing into consideration, the 5th World Congress of EI
Calls on governments to take effective measures to
14. Ratify and fully implement all conventions relating to fundamental rights at work, including the provisions of ILO Conventions 97 and 143 on the migration of workers and their families, the 1990 Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and members of their Families, and to apply all the provisions deriving from international treaties and pacts relating to the rights of migrants;
15. Adopt a human and children's rights approach and a gender perspective to deal with the increasing levels of international migration;
16. Recognise by the reform of laws and policies that the increasing feminisation of the migration process demands concrete actions to protect the labour rights of migrant women workers;
17. Take proactive measures to empower women when migrant education workers are integrated into the workforce;
18. Strengthen and reinforce bilateral, regional and global cooperation to build partnerships between receiver and sending countries, and make migration a driver of development;
19. Work at national, regional and international level with civil society organisations and the trade union movement to establish gender sensitive programmes and services to raise awareness on women migrant workers' rights, to ensure access to counselling and legal support to victims of abuses and to education and training;
20. Eliminate bias or discrimination, including gender-based discrimination, in the recognition of skills and qualifications;
Requests and urges EI member organisations to:
21. Redouble their efforts in favour of the Right to Education for all, with no exclusions or discriminations of any kind;
22. Call for the ratification and full implementation of the ILO Conventions on Migration;
23. Include a focus on international migration in the education sector in the union's agenda, taking into consideration its gender dimension;
24. Urge governments to respect and implement international instruments to protect migrant workers;
25. Provide gender awareness training to members on issues related to migrant women and girls;
26. Provide member organisations with training on the risks of sexual exploitation;
27. Gather information on the situation of education workers who emigrate, including their access to trade union rights, pay and working conditions, and continuing education and training;
28. Provide union representation and provision of membership;
29. Demand that migrant women and girls have access to quality public education;
Requests Education International to
30. Include in its advocacy and lobbying activities the gender perspective of international migration of all education workers;
31. Demand from governments a rights-based and gender-sensitive approach to immigration policy;
32. Support member organisations engaged in the defence of migrant workers rights, women and men;
33. Collect relevant gender segregated data on the international migration of education workers.