Countries around the world will stand united in a landmark event to tackle homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools in two weeks’ time.

Fighting homo/transphobia through education will be the theme of this year’s International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) which will be commemorated by almost 40 countries on 17 May.

More countries are joining a list which already includes Burma, Fiji and Haiti who have never taken part before.

The emphasis will be on creating safe learning environments which banish levels of verbal and physical violence experienced by many young people in schools.

Organisations are being encouraged to launch their own events in keeping with this theme and plans are already underway in in Australia, Brazil, Burma, Canada and Indonesia.

Joel Bedos, IDAHO international coordinator, said: ‘The day is about creating a space for everyone to take action. Even if every year we put a special focus on one theme, it's never in a one-size-fits-all frame of mind. Each organization will confront the common theme with their own approach and agenda. It's about unity, not uniformity.’

It has been widely shown that school bullying causes major psychological harm which can bear permanent marks on people’s lives.

Research in the US has revealed that students who are bullied at school are more than twice as likely to report a suicide attempt than students who are not bullied.

A Facebook page has been set up where people can share their stories and ideas on how to make schools better.

The IDAHO committee is in discussions with UNESCO about publishing the most powerful stories in a book.

The find out more about planned events visit the IDAHO May 17 Around the World webpage or Facebook site.