Education International's Global Action Week for Education (from 3 to 8 April 2000) forms part of the new Global Campaign for Education launched in mid-October to mobilize public pressure on governments to fulfil their promises to provide free, quality education for all.

EI's campaign and action week coincide with the World Education Forum taking place in Dakar at the end of April, and the World Summit on Development Review, to be held during a special UN session in Geneva at the end of June 2000.

In Dakar the governments of both developing and industrialized nations will review the plans and promises they made 10 years ago in Thailand, to ensure basic education for all children by the year 2000. Many of the promises have remained unfulfilled and today more than 125 million children are without schooling.

At the UN conference governments will review the commitments they made five years ago at the Social Summit in Copenhagen. These commitments included the achievement of universal basic education for all.

"We must make every effort to ensure that the good intentions and promises are finally put into action when the international community gets together, in Dakar in April and in Geneva in June, to discuss how to resolve the education crisis," said EI general secretary Fred van Leeuwen.

Activities planned for the action week include demonstrations, petitions, meetings with public officials, and public forums. Pressing issues of particular concern to CAUT are privatization and the status of teachers. "The success of the Action Week, will largely depend on initiatives taken by EI member organizations worldwide," Leeuwen said.

Member unions have been asked to lobby their governments seeking support for EI's 1998 resolution to promote as a matter of priority, universal, quality public education. Many national partner organizations associated with Oxfam International, ActionAid, and the Global March against Child Labour have already committed themselves to take part in the Action Week.