Worldwide report
61st Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women
An EI delegation participated in the 61st Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW61) at the UN Headquarters, from 13-24 March. The CSW61 focused on the priority theme of ‘Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Changing World of Work’. EI’s delegation was part of the broader labour delegation including delegates from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and Public Services International (PSI), as well as from national labour centres such as the Canadian Labour Congress. This year, the full labour delegation comprised 160 women from 44 countries.
An EI/ITUC/PSI co-sponsored parallel session was convened on ‘Mobilising Collective Action for Women’s Economic Empowerment’. Dianne Woloschuk, Chair of EI’s Status of Women Committee, represented EI on the panel, and made a strong case for why ‘A Woman’s Place is … in her Union’ and for advancing women’s economic empowerment and justice.
The EI delegation was led by Woloschuk and EI Deputy General Secretary Haldis Holst and supported by Rebeca Sevilla and madeleine kennedy-macfoy.
EI consultation workshop on quality terms of employment in the education sector
From 13-14 March, over 60 representatives of EI affiliates launched a global dialogue on quality working conditions and terms of employment. Participants from over 50 countries joined EI’s Undarmaa Batsukh and Jefferson Pessi for this consultation workshop. It laid the foundations for the development of an EI policy brief on employment in the education sector, as well as an online platform for strengthening affiliates’ capacity to develop relevant and effective policy proposals.
International Summit on the Teaching Profession
The International Summit on the Teaching Profession was hosted in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 29-31 March, by the UK and Scottish Governments, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), EI and its affiliates, the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), the National Union of Teachers (NUT), and members of the British Irish Group of Teacher Unions (BIGTU).
The event welcomed official delegations of education ministers, trade union representatives, teachers, and education experts from over 20 countries. EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen framed the theme of this year’s summit, “ Empowering and Enabling Teachers to Deliver Greater Equity and Improved Outcomes for All”, through the lens of current political and social strife affecting countries around the world. Read his remarks in full here
Global March Against Child Labour’s Board meeting
Strategies to eradicate child labour and to multiply rather than duplicate the impact of actions are amongst the outcomes of a meeting of the Board of the Global March Against Child Labour(Global March) on 30-31 March in The Hague, The Netherlands. The Global March was started 20 years ago by Nobel Laureate and current Global March Honorary President Kailash Satyarthi.
During the meeting, Board members, including EI, welcomed the Government of India’s ratification of the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) two conventions making child labour illegal. From 8-9 July, over 60 parliamentarians from 35 countries (including Bangladesh, Ghana and India) will meet at the Second Parliamentarians Without Borders’ event in The Hague. This is an initiative launched by the Global March to encourage parliamentarians to take public action against child labour.