Development Education
Global Solidarity Champions training course:
Interactive teaching, dynamic discussions and concrete solidarity work.
Global Solidarity Champions June 2010- Overall this is an excellent course, said Pat Hennessy member of ESBOA in County Claire after finishing the Global Solidarity Champions training course on the 22nd of July.
For Pat the session with the Colombian trade unionist Jorge Gamboa made the biggest impact.
- Jorge gave a face to the real trade union struggle, said Pat after meeting the Colombian trade union leader who has survived three attempts against his life.
- Meeting Jorge gave a proper understanding of the difficulties that trade unionists worldwide experience, whilst just looking for basic human rights, concluded Pat who now wants to take part in the solidarity work for Colombia and hopes to form a solidarity committee in ESBOA.
This was the third of Congress' Global Solidarity Champions training courses. So far more than 30 trade unionists have taken part in the 5 day training course, which is the main tool in Congress' development education programme, which also includes the Global Solidarity summer schools and forum. The development education component in the Global Solidarity programme is funded by Irish Aid.
- Without the funding from Irish Aid it would impossible for Congress to keep both the quality and the quantity of the development education programme, comments Stellan Hermansson who, as Global Solidarity Officer in ICTU, developed and runs the programme.
Interlinked programme
Each training course has been evaluated by the participants and contributes to developing a more comprehensive and interlinked programme. Today the course covers many different issues but the structure of each day tries to logically link things together.
For example at the latest course, the first day started with a discussion about what global solidarity and equality means to each of the participants and if there is a difference between charity and solidarity. These questions lead to a fruitful ideological debate. In the afternoon the Colombian trade union leader Jorge Gamboa first spoke about his own life and experiences as a trade union leader. He then presented the very difficult social and political situation in Colombia and the importance of international solidarity to change things for the better. The participants had many personal and political questions to Jorge in the following discussion. So the day started with a lively debate on how to define concepts such as global solidarity - and it ended with a concrete example on how important global solidarity is in practice.
Another example was when the international labour standards were in focus. The day started with a much appreciated and vivid presentation of the International Labour Organisation by Nick Grisewood, who is the Executive Director of the Global March against Child Labour. Nick Grisewood's interactive teaching engaged the participants in a dynamic debate. The role and importance of ILO was clarified as well as the problems that ILO has to make the important conventions a reality in the globalised labour market. The ILO theme was followed up with a session on gender equality from a global solidarity perspective, presented by Congress' Development Officer David Joyce. The presentation was mixed with several small group discussions on different equality issues and gave a better understanding of womens' employment options in the global south which very often are unregulated, unprotected jobs with no rights to social security. The day's final speaker was Aoife Smith of the Migrants Right Centre who spoke about Domestic Workers situation in Ireland and showed a film where several women from the Philippines shared their experience of both being isolated and exploited as domestic workers. Aoife also emphasised the need for an ILO convention to protect domestic workers rights. All participants were shocked by the degree of exploitation these migrant workers have to face.
- Aoife Smith's presentation showed that we have much more exploitation in Ireland then I thought, said Pat Hennessy.
Solidarity activists
The vast majority of the participants in the training courses so far, have actively engaged in the global solidarity work after becoming Global Solidarity Champions. John O'Brien, who took part in the first training course 2009 said:
- It gave me a great insight into the possibilities of how the trade union movement, both nationally and internationally, could have a significant role in promoting and actively supporting change in the lives of working people in the developing world.
John is now representing INTO in the Global Solidarity Committee and is active in the trade union network Justice For Colombia. He also contributed to INTO's decision to support Congress' partnership programme with Lesotho Congress of Democratic Unions, which is a trade union capacity building and HIV/AIDS information project.
Niall McGuirk PSEU took part in the second training course last year said:
-Most importantly the course spoke about how we as trade unionists can help to make this world a better place for all. Start at your very own workplace.
Niall has, together with a friend, already organised lunch meetings with global solidarity themes in his own workplace. He is also active in PSEU's own Solidarity Committee and in Justice For Colombia.
All the Global Solidarity Champions and the Committee members will meet on the 27-28 of August at the Global Solidarity Forum in Dublin. The Forum has 4 themes; Climate Change; Clean Clothes Campaign; Palestine and Colombia. The "Champions" and Committee members will listen to interesting speakers and discuss how to develop our trade union movement's solidarity work.
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Would you like to join the next training course?
You will be very welcome to join the next Global Solidarity Champions traning course which starts in November 2010. Please contact the Global Solidarity Officer in Dublin.