1. HIV/AIDS, Schools and Education
A Global Strategy Framework
Prepared by the UNAIDS Inter-Agency Working Group on HIV/AIDS, Schools and Education

2. State of the World’s Children 2002, UNICEF
"The impact of HIV/AIDS is crushing the attempts of countries all over the world to put human development and the rights of women and children first."
HIV/AIDS, Schools and Education:
Global Strategy Framework
“A broader approach is needed to contain the spread of HIV and address the socio-economic impacts of HIV/AIDS.”

3. HIV/AIDS, School and Education: Global Strategy Framework
“The education sector must be seen, and must see itself, as a central player in this global priority.”
“Protecting a new generation from HIV/AIDS is imperative to the future of education systems, which are themselves falling victim to the effects of HIV/AIDS.”
HIV/AIDS, School and Education:
Global Strategy Framework

4. The purpose of the Strategy Framework
To facilitate development of country-level strategic plans for HIV/AIDS prevention and impact management in education systems, as part of an expanded global response to the
pandemic.

5. The focus
Children and young people at or near school age, in primary and secondary school settings
May also be relevant to other educational settings (pre-school, tertiary, vocational, non-formal settings)

6. The Strategy Framework can be used...
To inform and guide education planners, policy-makers, HIV/AIDS taskforce teams, teachers and their professional unions, & non-governmental organisations
As a guide for country level action, to be adapted and implemented at all levels
To complement the goals and strategies of existing international or national frameworks and plans for action (e.g., EFA and CRC plans)
To support and expand upon the UNAIDS Framework for Global Leadership on HIV/AIDS, with regard to young people in educational settings
To guide the work of international organisations

7. Lessons hard learned
The scale of the pandemic today has exceeded worst-case projections for young people. In many countries, year olds constitute the majority of new HIV infections.
By seriously affecting the supply and quality of education, AIDS is threatening recent gains that provided the most disadvantaged with access to school.

8. Global Total: 10.3 Million Young People
(15-24 year olds estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS
end of 1999)
Europe
80,000 / 140,000
Central Asia
<5,000 / <5,000
North Africa
& Middle East
15,000 / 28,000
East/South Asia & Pacific
880,000 / 660,000
Americas
200,000 / 440,000
Sub-Saharan Africa
5,3000,000 / 2,600,000
Female /Male
Source: UNAIDS/UNICEF 2000, The Progress of Nations 2000

9. Source: State of the World’s Children 2002, UNICEF

10. On a positive note…
Education itself can reduce vulnerability to HIV/AIDS
Education is the key to reducing stigma, promoting greater understanding of HIV/AIDS and providing skills necessary to protect oneself and care for others
Schools have the opportunity to reach young people early, in the “window of hope” between the ages of 6-14 when few young people are infected
Well-implemented school-based HIV/AIDS prevention programs have shown to reduce key HIV/AIDS risks

11. The goal of the Strategy Framework
To increase the education sector’s contribution to 2 key and inter-linked targets:
To increase the education sector’s contribution to
two key and inter-linked goals:
To achieve 25% reduction in HIV infection rates among young people in most affected countries by 2005, and globally by 2010
To ensure that by 2015, all children have access to
and complete primary education of good quality

12. Objectives Simultaneously address 3 basic and
inter-related dynamics of the epidemic …
… for an “expanded response” to HIV/AIDS

13. The Strategy Framework recommends actions within each area
Key actions within each objective
Leadership
Situational analysis
Advocacy
Strategic areas
Participatory
planning
Mobilising
resources
Research, monitoring
& evaluation
Partnerships
The Strategy Framework recommends actions within each area

14. Objective 1. Reducing Risk
To strengthen capacities of education systems,
especially schools, to implement well-resourced, full-scale
HIV/AIDS prevention programs which specifically address
key risk behaviours and situations
HIV/AIDS risk reduction
addressed through life
skills-based programs in
all schools
Children and young
people avoiding risks
for HIV
Key Outcomes
Students and their teachers have the
knowledge, attitudes and skills they
need to reduce their HIV/AIDS
related risk, and to care for
& support those affected by HIV/AIDS

15. Reducing Risk - Strategic Areas
Link formal and non-formal HIV/AIDS prevention programs
Scale up ongoing support to teachers and other educators regarding their own HIV/AIDS prevention needs
Link HIV/AIDS specific prevention programs to broader school health programs (FRESH), with the following components...

16. Reducing Risk - Strategic Areas
Develop strong national and school policies in support of AIDS prevention education. Promote translation of policies into enforceable laws and regulations;
Implement skills based health education to meet nationally defined standards relating to knowledge, attitudes and behaviours for preventing AIDS;
Provide access to essential health services and supplies to support uptake of risk reduction behaviour (access to condoms, VCCT, STI prevention & management, substance abuse);
Coordinate school-community partnerships to reach out-of-school youth

17. Reducing Risk
The Strategy Framework includes a more detailed discussion of risk reduction and suggests possible indicators by which to monitor efforts in this area (outcome and process indicators at the international and national levels)

18. Objective 2. Reducing Vulnerability
To improve the capacity of education systems to reduce
vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and promote factors and
environments that are inclusive, healthy and
protective for individuals, communities and societies
All schools are imple-
menting effective
school health programs
Reduced rates of STI and
unwanted pregnancies
among young people
Key Outcomes
By 2015, all children have access to
and complete free and compulsory
primary eduction of good quality
Orphans, girls & other children and
young people highly vulnerable to
HIV risk are achieving on equal basis
with other students

19. Reducing Vulnerability - Strategic Areas
Provide high quality education for all children, particularly girls, orphans and other vulnerable children
Implement effective school health programs that address HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support, by coordinating the following components...

20. Reducing Vulnerability - Strategic Areas
Ensure policies are in place to address HIV/AIDS related protective and vulnerability factors;
Provide access to adequate drinking water and sanitation facilities
Provide full-scale skills based health education with a balance of relevant knowledge, attitudes and skills-building;
Facilitate access to basic health, nutrition and psycho-social services to reduce young people’s vulnerability to HIV infection;
Enhance school-community partnerships for learning, leisure, vocational and livelihood guidance and training

21. Objective 3. Managing Impact
To assess, manage and mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on
education systems and individuals
Reduced HIV/AIDS
related stigma/
discrimination affecting
children, YP, teachers,
and other educational
staff
Matched supply of,
and demand for,
teachers in schools
Key Outcomes
HIV/AIDS infected and affected
children, especially orphans, enrolled
in education and achieving on an
equal basis with other students

22. Managing Impact - Strategic Areas
Ensure access to high quality education for orphans, children living with HIV/AIDS, and children in families affected by HIV/AIDS, by…
Reducing social and economic barriers to accessing and staying in education
Developing innovative ways of providing education for orphans, children living with HIV/AIDS and children in families affected by HIV/AIDS
Reviewing pre- and in-service manager and teacher training to ensure support for orphans, children living with HIV/AIDS and children in families affected by HIV/AIDS

23. Managing Impact - Strategic Areas
Ensure teachers are supported to build their personal capacity to cope with the impact of HIV/AIDS
Ensure adequate supply of teachers and managers
Adjust recruitment of teachers and manager to meet projected demands
Ensure decent working conditions for teachers

24. Strategies for different stages of the epidemic
Early
Concentrated
Generalised
HIV/AIDS/STI prevention programs to
address specific risk behaviours and
situations
Education and services, such as
VCCT, life skills, health & nutrition
services, for key groups vulnerable
to HIV/AIDS (e.g., girls, orphans,
IDU, sex workers)
In all stages of the epidemic, the most effective response will be an “expanded response” - one that simultaneously acts on all fronts: reducing risk, vulnerability and impact. However, this slide attempts to show how to prioritise certain strategies, depending on the maturity of the epidemic.
In the early phases of an HIV epidemic (relatively low prevalence of HIV), effective prevention efforts can slow the rate of HIV transmission. These interventions should provide information and help develop skills and attitudes that reduce risky behaviours and situations (safer sex, reducing partners, reduced or safer IV drug use).
A concentrated epidemic refers to concentration of HIV among specific risk behaviours/groups, e.g. IDU, sex work. Young people can compromise a significant proportion of these groups making them vulnerable to HIV risk. The young people who are most vulnerable to infection need to be identified: either due to high-risk behaviours (IDU, sex work) or due to conditions (e.g., girls, orphans, those with disabilities or in conflict situations, or those who are exploited sexually or otherwise). Ensuring access to education and health services for all, and supportive legal and social norms (to combat discrimination, poverty, violence) can help to decrease vulnerability to HIV infection.
In a mature epidemic (prevalence of HIV is high; infection has generalised or spread widely throughout society), the impact of AIDS will be felt among social systems like the education sector. Some of the worst affected countries are losing teachers daily to the epidemic, and student enrolments are dropping as children become infected, orphaned or burdened by the impact of AIDS. Such devastation can in turn fuel more infections, so efforts must be made to mitigate the impact.
Mitigate impact through
recruitment of teachers, access
to psycho-social, health & income-
generating services for students
& staff affected/infected by HIV/AIDS

25. Contributing agencies
The Inter-Agency Working Group
on HIV/AIDS, Schools and Education:
Partner Organisations:
UNAIDS
UNDCP
UNDP
UNESCO
UNFPA
UNICEF
UNIFEM
WHO
World Bank
International Federation of Medical Students
Partnership for Child Development
Save the Children Fund, UK
USAID
Johns Hopkins University
Aga Khan Foundation
ADEA
CDC, USA
CIDA
Commonwealth Youth Program
DFID
Education Development Center
Education International