International Solidarity Officers’ Conference 10:00-17:30, 29 February 2020, Hamilton House, London, WC1H 9BD

DELEGATE BRIEFING

Welcome to the 2020 NEU International Solidarity Conference. International solidarity is a cornerstone of education trade unionism and is a central pillar of the NEU. This conference offers NEU members the opportunity to engage, network and learn with other international activists. There will be a series of workshops, discussions, and stalls pertaining to education for all, international human rights and trade union issues, and solidarity activities of the Union.

Members will have the opportunity to hear from speakers including Dan Carden MP (Acting Shadow Secretary of State for International Development), Njoki Njehu (Fight Inequality Alliance), Simon O’Hara (Anti-Academies Alliance), Debby Pope (Chicago Teachers’ Union), and Asad Rehman (War on Want), in addition to a number of NEU members who are engaged in international solidarity.

We look forward to welcoming you to the conference. If you have any queries, then please contact [email protected]

Contents Programme of Events p. 2-3 Speaker Biographies p. 4-5 Workshop Outline p. 6-7

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Programme of Events

Session Description Speakers & Workshop Leaders

10:00-10:25 Arrivals and Registration

10:25-10:30 Conference Begins Gawain Little, Executive Member and Chair of the International Committee, NEU

10:30-11:30 Welcome and Keynote Address Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary, NEU followed by Q&A Dan Carden MP, Acting Shadow Secretary of State for International Development

11:30 – 13:00 Workshops – Education for All Hannah Nixon, Campaign Manager, Send My Friend to School Delegates will attend three workshops on the education for all Nadia Saracin, Senior Adviser on Inequalities, agenda. Workshops will operate on Christian Aid a round robin basis and last for 30 minutes per session. Anne Beatty, Chief Executive, Steve Sinnott Foundation

13:00 – 14:00 LUNCH (Rooms 5 & 6)

14:00 – 14:45 Workshops – International Human Cuba Rights, Trade Union Issues & Rob Miller, Director, Cuba Solidarity Campaign Solidarity Lucy Coleman, NEU Member and Cuba Delegate (2018) Members will choose one 40- minute session focused on Iran international trade union and Dr Liz Payne, CoDIR solidarity issues in either a) Cuba b) Jamshid Ahmadi, CoDIR Iran c) Palestine or d) Turkey. Palestine A description of the workshops can Martial Kurtz, Palestine Solidarity Campaign be found below. Rana Shihadah, NEU Member and Palestine Delegate (2019)

Turkey Oktay Sahbaz, Member of the Steering Committee, SPOT (Solidarity with the People of Turkey)

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Session Description Speakers & Workshop Leaders

14:45 – 15:45 IN CONVERSATION Discussion Chair: Gawain Little, Executive Member and Chair of the International A conversation on the privatisation Committee, NEU of education at home and around the world. Panellists will discuss the Njoki Njehu, Pan Africa Coordinator, Fight implications for quality, equality, Inequality Alliance democratic accountability and, crucially, how we can resist this Simon O’Hara, Campaign Organiser, Anti- agenda. Academies Alliance

Debby Pope, Grievance Correspondent, Chicago Teachers’ Union 15:45 – 16:40 7 for 7 Louise Regan – Rohingya Solidarity 7 members will speak for 7 minutes Eszter Scheibner Vasarhelyi – Care4Calais on their experience of activism and Phillipa Harvey – Labor Notes international solidarity with the Alpha Kane – Pearson & Anti-privatisation NEU. Tony Foody – Send My Friend to School Neil Sledge – Remembering Srebrenica

16:40 – 16:55 Individual Action Planning

16:55 – 17:10 Closing Address Asad Rehman, Executive Director, War on Want

17:10-17:20 Closing Comments & Event End Gawain Little

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Speaker Biographies

Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary,

Dr Mary Bousted is joint general secretary of the National Education Union. Mary represents the interests of her members to the government, and to a wide variety of other stakeholders. As the education union, NEU leads the debate on key educational issues with strong policy positions on, for example, assessment and curriculum changes; school accountability and school structures. She sits on the executive committees of the (TUC) and Education International. Mary previously worked in higher education at York University, and at where she was Head of the School of Education. Prior to this Mary was a Head of English, and English teacher in comprehensive schools in North London.

Dan Carden MP, Acting Shadow Secretary of State for International Development

Dan Carden has been the Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton since 2017, and the Acting Shadow Secretary of State for International Development since December 2018.

Gawain Little, Chair of the International Committee, National Education Union

Gawain is an experienced primary school teacher and member of the NEU Executive. Gawain chairs the International Committee of the NEU Executive. He has previously held several local positions including Secretary, Assistant Secretary, President and Campaigns Officer and was voted Regional Officer of the Year in 2012.

Njoki Njehû, Pan Africa Coordinator, Fight Inequality Alliance

Ms. Njehû is a committed grassroots organizer/mobilizer and activist. A Pan-Africanist, feminist, and popular educator, Ms. Njehû’s expertise includes women’s land rights, gender justice, community rights, and environmental justice. She is the coordinator of the Pan-African Fight Inequality Alliance, Board member of Urgent Action Fund (UAF) Africa and Natural Justice. She is a founding member of the International Council of the World Social Forum (WSF) and the African Social Forum Council.

Simon O’Hara, Campaign Manager, Anti-Academies Alliance

Simon has been a teacher for 32 years in both primary and secondary phases. Simon is the campaign manager for the Anti Academies Alliance, providing support, advice and guidance for communities who are resisting the attempted privatisation or academisation of their local schools. Both Simon and the Alliance are committed to ending academisation and encouraging the development of ideas for a comprehensive, democratic and inclusive National Education Service.

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Debby Pope, Grievance Correspondent, Chicago Teachers’ Union

Debby Pope is a Grievance Correspondent for the Chicago Teachers’ Union. She also sits on the steering committee of CORE (Cause of Rank and File Educators) and National UCORE (United Caucus of Rank and File Educators) Steering Committee.

Asad Rehman, Executive Director, War on Want

With over 35 years of experience campaigning around social, economic, climate and racial justice issues, Asad has been involved in and acted as spokesperson for some of the UK’s most hard hitting and transformative national campaigns, including Justice for Stephen Lawrence, Jean Charles de Menezes and Stop the War, as well as being a grassroots campaigner in East London on racism and police injustice. He has been involved in a number of global movements especially around climate justice and migration. Asad is especially passionate on focusing on reframing environmental issues as questions of economic and racial justice and centering the voices of global South in UK politics.

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Workshop Outlines

Workshops Round 1 - Education for All (11:30-13:00)

This series of workshops address education as a human right and the central force for sustainable development. Today, more than 262 million children remain out of school, millions who are in school are not learning and progress toward Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 has stagnated. This series of workshops will examine the global ambitions for education, which aim to ensure inclusive and quality education for all by 2030, and unpack the key challenges to meeting these targets – including privatisation, climate change and the barriers to learning for the world’s most vulnerable children including children with disabilities, girls, refugees and the poorest.

Workshops Round 2 - International Human Rights, Trade Union Issues & Solidarity (14:00-14:45)

Delegates will attend one 45-minute workshop of their choice.

Cuba

Rob Miller (Cuba Solidarity Campaign) and Lucy Coleman (NEU Delegate, 2018) will explore the state of education in Cuba, a country that is well known for its high-quality public education system and world- leading literacy rates.1 The workshop will unpack what makes the Cuban model of education so effective, what we can learn from it and where it can be improved, and discuss the perspectives of Lucy– an NEU member who has first-hand experience visiting schools and meeting with teachers in Cuba.

Iran

Iran is facing a human rights crisis. Repressive security agencies continue to suppress civil society activists, freedom of speech and assembly, and labour-related protests. Escalations between Iran and the U.S. have also led to significant sanctions on the country which are causing serious hardships for ordinary Iranians.2 Meanwhile, children with disabilities are marginalised and frozen out of school: in 2019 only 150,000 out of an estimated 1.5 million children with disabilities were in enrolled in school. 3 Many are deemed “uneducable” and permanently barred from accessing education. Dr Liz Payne and Jamshid Ahmadi of CoDIR (Committee for the Defence of Iranian People’s Rights) will share the work of their organisation, human rights issues in Iran, and how delegates can be effective allies and express solidarity.

1 http://uis.unesco.org/en/country/cu 2 https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/iran 3 https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/global

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Palestine

The human rights crisis in Palestine is a protracted and devastating affair. In Gaza, Palestinian refugees face a socio-economic, humanitarian and educational crisis as a result of a land, sea and air blockade by Israel.4 In the West Bank, the Israeli Government continues to enforce severe restrictions on Palestinian’s rights and continues to facilitate the occupation of settlements in the occupied West Bank.5 In this area, 95% of children are enrolled in basic education, but by age 15, 25% of boys and 7% of girls have dropped out.6 Up to one-third of children with disabilities never enter a classroom; youth unemployment is at 40% and barriers to education have exacerbated vulnerability and trauma in children.7 Members will learn from Martial Katz (Palestine Solidarity Campaign) and Rana Shihadah (NEU & PSC Member) on the work of PSC, human rights and education issues in Palestine, and how NEU members can be effective allies and express solidarity.

Turkey

Under the draconian rule of President Erdogan, Turkish people have been systematically denied workers’ and human rights. Widespread repression of political opponents, trade unionists, journalists, human rights activists, and the judiciary have severely eroded democratic frameworks and deepened the human rights crisis. Trade unions are routinely denied the right to strike, are limited in their freedom of assembly, and subject to punitive measures.8 Oktay Sahbaz of SPOT (Solidarity with the People of Turkey) will lead a workshop on the activism of SPOT, highlight trade union and human rights issues in Turkey, and identify how NEU members can express solidarity through actions ranging from branch /district to national level.

4 https://www.unrwa.org/sites/default/files/content/resources/2019_opt_ea_final.pdf 5 https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/israel/palestine 6 https://www.unicef.org/sop/what-we-do/education-and-adolescents 7 Ibid., https://www.unrwa.org/activity/education-west-bank 8 https://www.unison.org.uk/content/uploads/2018/12/25370_Workers_rights_Turkey_REPORT_OV.pdf

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