HIV/AIDS and Education Resource Materials - UNESCO HIV and ...

UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
HIV AND EDUCATION PROGRAMME

HIV/AIDS AND EDUCATION
RESOURCE MATERIALS

TWO HIV/AIDS AND
EDUCATION ACTION
STRATEGIES

CONTENTS

HIV/AIDS, Schools and Education: Global Strategy Framework (Inter-Agency
Working Group on HIV/AIDS, Schools and Education)

HIV/AIDS and Education: Managing for Disaster in the SADC Region (Coombe)

Education as a Vehicle for Combatting HIV/AIDS (Coombe and Kelly)

The Role of the International Agencies and Education Community (Kelly)

A Humanitarian Response to HIV and AIDS in Education: Short-Term
Interventions to Save Lives and Sustain Quality (Coombe)

Increasing Primary Education Access to Children in AIDS-Affected Areas:
Overcoming Obstacles and the Community Schooling Approach (Hepburn)

South Africa HIV/AIDS Emergency Guidelines for Educators in South African
Learning Institutions (Department of Education, Pretoria)

The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Education Systems in the Eastern and Southern
Africa Region, and Life Skills Programmes (Gachuhi)

PRETORIA
FEBRUARY 2002






Draft
For discussion


HIV/AIDS, Schools and Education
Global Strategy Framework







Prepared in collaboration with the
UNAIDS Inter-agency Working Group on
HIV/AIDS, Schools and Education












July, 2001


Comments to ibirdthistle@unicef.org OR agillespie@unicef.org


HIV/AIDS, Schools and Education
Global Strategy Framework

Executive Summary

Though the human immunodeficiency virus, HIV, has been with us for more
than two decades, we are only just starting to define the character and
ferocity of its effects - with social impact as devastating as any war. A
narrow focus on a health response has been inadequate, as HIV/AIDS is also
debilitating social, economic and cultural systems. A broader approach is
needed to contain the spread of the virus. Protecting the education system
is particularly important so that the sector can continue to provide
education and training of good quality to rebuild the human capital
required for development. A broad multidisciplinary approach that also
addresses underlying factors such as poverty and gender-based inequities is
essential.[?] While more research is almost always useful, action has to
be taken before full knowledge is attained. The world cannot wait for
compete answers before moving to meet the challenge.

The Inter-Agency Working Group on HIV/AIDS, Schools and Education

This Strategy Framework was produced through the leadership of the UNAIDS
Inter-Agency Working Group on HIV/AIDS, Schools and Education with the
participation of co-sponsoring organisations of UNAIDS as well as bilateral
agencies, governments, non-government organisations, professional
associations and unions, and academic institutions. The consultative
process was designed to be broad and inclusive, involving electronic
discussions and a range of conferences and meetings globally, beginning at
the Dakar World Education Forum, April, 2000, followed up at the United
Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, June, 2001, and
concluding at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on
Children, September, 2001. The Strategy Framework will be presented for
endorsement by the Program Coordinating Board (PCB) of UNAIDS, in
September, 2001. The PCB is comprised of the seven UNAIDS Cosponsors
(UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UNESCO, UNDP, UNFPA, UNDCP), 22 governments from
all regions of the world, and five non-governmental organizations (NGOs),
including associations of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Driving forces

Two global mechanisms have driven and guided the development of this
Strategy Framework: "Education For All" and the 5-year Review and Appraisal
of Implementation of the International Conference on Population and
Development Programme of Action (ICPD+5, 1999).

"Education For All" (EFA) is the touchstone for the advancement of
education around the world. The World Education Forum (Dakar, Senegal, 26-
28 April 2001), the outcome of a comprehensive process of consultation
among all relevant EFA partners and the EFA 2000 Assessment, provided clear
priorities and recommendations for national action towards EFA.

In brief, the six Dakar goals are:
(i) expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and
education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children
;
(ii) ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in
difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have
access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good
quality ;
(iii) ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults
are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills
programmes ;
(iv) achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by
2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing
education for all adults ;
(v) eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by
2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on
ensuring girls' full and equal access to and achievement in basic
education of good quality ;
(vi) improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring
excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are
achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life
skills.
Source: Dakar Framework for Action, para. 7

The Dakar Framework for Action, adopted by all countries represented in
Dakar, reaffirms the fundamental human right to education. The Framework
recognises that HIV/AIDS is eroding the hard-won gains in education of the
last decade. Indeed the focus on HIV/AIDS for the future is a distinctly
new emphasis within the EFA movement and 'governments have an obligation to
ensure that EFA goals and targets are reached and sustained'[?]. The Dakar
Framework also emphasises partnership, the growing role of civil society in
achieving EFA, and the importance of national political will and action in
the follow up - all of which are equally relevant to overcoming the
HIV/AIDS pandemic.

ICPD+5 represents the 5-year review and appraisal of the implementation of
the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme
of Action. The 1999 conference was successful in establishing the first
specific global target to reduce HIV among young people, with supporting
strategies to ensure the right of young people to accurate information and
education to prevent and cope with the effects of HIV/AIDS. Clearly,
school-based efforts can contribute significantly by starting early and
continuing to support children and young people through their education.

Goals of this Strategy Framework

Recognising that the goals of EFA cannot be achieved without attention to
HIV/AIDS, and the ICPD+5 goal on HIV reduction cannot be achieved without
education, this Strategy Framework aims to increase the education sector's
contribution to these two key and inter-linked goals:
. To achieve 25% reduction in HIV infection rates among young people[?] in
the most affected countries by 2005, and globally by 2010 (ICPD+5)
. To ensure that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, and children in
difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have
access to and complete, free and compulsory primary education of good
quality (EFA).

To this end, this Strategy Framework promotes an "expanded response" to
HIV/AIDS; one which simultaneously reduces risk, vulnerability and impact -
the three basic and inter-related dynamics of the epidemic:
. Decreasing the risk of infection slows the epidemic,
. Decreasing vulnerability reduces the risk of infection and the impact of
the epidemic; and
. Decreasing the impact of the epidemic decreases vulnerability to
HIV/AIDS.


Taken together, the goals of Education for All and ICPD+5, and related
strategies, provide a clear priority for education in preventing HIV/AIDS
among children and young people. School-based efforts must be considered a
significant part of the action that follows, including efforts to reach
more children and provide them with quality education in a supportive
learning environment. These actions cannot be separated from the underlying
issues and the need to do more to build the virtuous cirlce of debt relief,
poverty reduction and sustainable development. This Strategy Framework
provides ideas for strengthening and expanding what can be done through and
with education to address HIV/AIDS and the needs of children and young
people in terms of reducing risk, vulnerability and the impact of HIV/AIDS.
Ultimately priorities will have to be set, and these must be set according
to local factors and conditions, and constantly reviewed. There is no
single recipe for success, and much relies on the commitment and capacity
for innovation and prompt action at the country level, and broad
partnerships at all levels.



Strategy Framework Summary
Goals
This Strategy Framework aims to increase the education sector's
contribution to two key international goals:
. To achieve 25% reduction in HIV infection rates among young people in the
most affected countries by 2005, and