It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Elie Jouen, who was Deputy General Secretary at Education International from its foundation until he retired shortly after the Berlin Congress, in 2008.
Elie Jouen studied at both the Ecole Normale de Rouen and the Institut des Etudes Politiques de Paris, in France. Very early in his career as a primary school teacher he became active in the national education union, SNI, at both departmental and national levels. In 1978 he was elected National Secretary of the Federation de l’Education Nationale (FEN), the confederation of national education unions at that time.
Elie started working at the international level in 1980, when he was appointed Assistant General Secretary of the International Federation of Free Teachers’ Unions (IFFTU). During the formation of Education International (EI) in 1993, he was appointed Deputy General Secretary. Within this framework, Elie organised and supervised many EI activities in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Central and Eastern Europe, and, more specifically, in the Education and Development Cooperation fields. For many years he was one of Education International’s main spokespersons in many intergovernmental organisations including the World Bank, ILO, WTO, OECD and UNESCO. After his retirement from EI he became a board member of the Global March Against Child Labour.
Fred van Leeuwen, EI General Secretary, who worked closely with him during his time in IFFTU and EI, said that he was a committed and hard-working educationalist and trade union representative, who made a significant contribution to the development of Education International. He will be missed by his former colleagues and by his many friends throughout the world. He is survived by his wife, Marie-Claire, and family.