In Afghanistan, a lot of children are subject to exclusion from and within the education system. Female children, children affected by conflict and war, children with disabilities, nomadic (Kuchi) children, children from poor economic backgrounds, working children and children affected by drugs are just some of the vulnerable groups.

In 2009, more that six million children were enrolled in school, in contrast to 2001, when primary school enrolment only totalled 0.9 million. 36% of the number enrolled were girls. This percentage is much better than the virtually 0% in 2001, but enrolment rates of girls are still lower than those of boys. This occurs in both urban secondary schools and primary and secondary schools of rural areas.

The Ministry of Education estimates that even today half of the school age children in Afghanistan are out of school.

According to the Education Law (adopted in August 2008/1387), the role of the education system (from pre-primary to tertiary) is vital for the future of Afghanistan. The Education Law (Articles 2, 3) promotes and protects the right to education for all Afghans.

The National Education Strategic Plan for Afghanistan 2010-2014 (1389-1393) focuses on three priorities:

1) To provide an adequate learning environment for all children, especially girls, so as to improve access and retention. Nearly half of the existing schools do not have buildings or their buildings are damaged and unsafe to use.

2) To update teachers’ skills and qualifications and thus improve the quality of their teaching and consequently classroom learning.

3) To strengthen institutional ability to develop and implement adequate policies, as well as to effectively manage the human, financial and physical resources required to achieve positive results.

Exclusion of children from and within education must stop. It must be addressed by the government, but also by schools and communities. The concept of inclusive schools where children are able to learn and to further develop academically, socially, emotionally as well as physically is widely accepted.

But it is not easy. It is a long-standing situation that cannot be addressed or altered overnight as it requires commitment and perseverance over a long period of time. The need for a new strategy towards inclusive and child-friendly education able to give people in Afghanistan access to education is essential.

Regarding ‘Relief as drug ‘advertising’ plan ditched‘:

As a student at a university in the United States, I think it would be in Europe’s best interest to allow prescription drugs to be advertised. The US is one of two countries that allows this and it has proven to be very beneficial.

All of the experts whose opinions were stated in the article had very valid points when they said that patients should have the right to see medicines that could potentially help them.

Having said that, restrictions should be put in place because some companies leave out side-effects that their medicines could cause.

Dan Keller

Student

Regarding ‘Parliament backs 20-week maternity leave‘:

Europe’s leaders must use Thursday’s EU summit to fight against the introduction of new laws on maternity leave, voted on by MEPs last week, that will increase maternity leave from the current EU minimum of 14 weeks to 20 weeks, all of which will be on compulsory full pay – costing the EU €121 billion between now and 2030.

For small businesses, maternity and paternity leave in their current form are perceived as barriers to employment. For businesses without employees, these two pieces of legislation attract the highest levels of concern when they are thinking of taking on an employee.

We all want adequate, flexible maternity and paternity leave but it should be for elected governments in dialogue with parents and their employers to decide how much their economy can afford to give and how it is to be delivered. These proposals should be about setting minimum EU standards for the health and safety of pregnant workers – not adding new payroll costs for overburdened companies and national social security systems.

This is yet another example of how well-intentioned EU employment law is actually exacerbating our unemployment crisis. In the present economic climate we should be making it easier for people to gain employment, not placing obstacles in their way.

Yours,

Tina Sommer – European Small Business Alliance (ESBA), President
John Walker – Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), National Chairman
Hendrik-Jan van Oostrum – Dutch Retail Association, Head of Brussels Office
Dr. Gunay Cerkez – KTTO (Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce), President

Regarding ‘EU to pump €18m into flu research‘:

The swine flu and bird flu strategies to defeat these killer diseases with drugs are totally flawed. By the time we get any new kinds of antibiotic, most of us will be dead. The reason for this is that the Spanish flu did its worst between week 16 and week 26, when up to 100 million perished.

In the most recent attempt to get a vaccine quickly, it took six months (26 weeks) just to create the drug and have its safety tested. With no mass production and with global distribution logistics a nightmare, it would take at least 12 months from the onslaught of any pandemic for 50% to receive any treatment at best.

Therefore the only thing that will stop the eventual killer pandemic (Margaret Chan, director-general of the WHO, says it is only a matter of time) is to stop it at source and never let it happen in the first place – the preventative strategy.

Therefore let’s stop fooling ourselves that the drugs strategy will save us, as in reality, no matter when the terrible event happens, time will be totally against us all. Drugs are a complete waste of time but of course make vast fortunes for the powerful pharmaceutical companies and that is why stupid governments, politicians of all creeds and MEPs listen to them.

Dr. David Hill

Executive Director

World Innovation Foundation

Bern,

Switzerland

A propos de la crise de la nouvelle grippe A(H1N1) qui a mis en état d’alerte le monde entier et en particulier le Mexique.

A ce sujet, je vous écris au nom du respect que nous méritons tous et au nom de la responsabilité qui est la notre dans la création de stigmatisations ou d’associations défavorables qui limitent notre capacité à vivre ensemble en toute harmonie.

Le 30 avril dernier, l’OMS a établit le nom de la nouvelle grippe qu’elle appelle depuis le virus de la grippe A (H1N1) . C’est en ce sens que je suis préoccupé par le fait qu’en Belgique on continue à employer le terme de “grippe mexicaine” pour parler de la nouvelle grippe A (H1N1) qui sévit dans le monde entier et pas seulement au Mexique, alors que les conséquences et les dégâts causés par l’utilisation de cette qualification sont évidents.

L’argument principal avancé pour continuer à utiliser cette dénomination en Belgique est qu’il faut préserver le nom du “porc” dont la viande est consommée dans ce pays. Cependant, ceux qui insistent pour associer cette maladie au Mexique restent totalement indifférents à la discrimination qu’ils créent.

Un signal simple de solidarité humaine serait d’appeler cette grippe “la nouvelle grippe A (H1N1)”. Ce changement d’attitude ne causerait de préjudice à personne et bénéficierait en revanche à l’avenir de l’économie mexicaine, économie qui concerne plus de 110 millions de personnes, et favoriserait également l’économie mondiale déjà durement frappée par la crise économique.

Cette lettre vous est adressée par un citoyen du monde, un ancien étudiant de l’ULB, un ex-stagiaire de la Commission européenne, actuel employé dans le secteur financier et surtout par quelqu’un qui a choisi la Belgique comme meilleur pays pour y résider, en raison de son passé de terre d’accueil et sa richesse multiculturelle.

J’espère que l’ensemble des médias pourra entendre mon appel et laisser humblement de côté des pratiques discriminatoires, et utilisera dorénavant la dénomination définie par l’Organisation mondiale de la santé pour faire référence à la nouvelle grippe.

Pedro Obando

Bruxelles

Belgique

Regarding Reinhard Lauer of the BBFU’s letter dated 8 April (‘Mercury use in dental amalgam’):

The Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) shares the concerns of Bundesverband der Beratungsstellen fuer Umweltgifte about the use of dental amalgams containing mercury.

However, we were surprised to learn of their doubts regarding the scientific basis of our work.

Our “Stay healthy, Stop mercury” campaign is based on various research, including the work of the internationally-recognised expert and Harvard professor Philippe Grandjean.

His findings on the effects of low-dose mercury exposure in children were publishedPdf external in the Lancet, an international, peer-reviewed scientific publication.

Regarding ‘Green NGO demands nanotech legislation’:

Just a quick note regarding Aquanova’s statement that “there is no nanotech in what we are doing”: the company’s statements regarding their products are very contradictory.

To give an example: on their website, Aquanova states : “Completely in tune with the start of the era of nanotechnology, the product micelle of lipophilic or water-insoluble substances is providing crystal clear solutions (‘solubilisates’) not just from a visual standpoint. The product micelle is stable with respect to pH and temperature and has a diameter of approximately 30 nm.”

Thus it may well be worthwhile to ask Aquanova why they are telling you that they are not doing nanotech while at the same time advertising themselves as being “completely in tune” with nanotech on their website.

Regards,

Jurek Vengels

Projekt Chemikalienpolitik und Nanotechnologie / Chemicals Policy and Nanotechnology Project

Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland ( BUND )

Friends of the Earth Germany

Berlin

Germany