Education

UNESCO’s new AIDS strategy intends to meet the needs of the changing face of the AIDS epidemic.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recently launched a new AIDS strategy intended to meet the needs of the changing face of the AIDS epidemic.

The strategy articulates UNESCO’s contribution to the UNAIDS strategy Getting to Zero, and calls for the need to accelerate universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.

“All parts of the Organization are mobilized at the global, regional and country levels, through activities that are culturally appropriate, gender transformative and evidence-based. This cross disciplinary approach is our signature strength and it is well-suited for tackling HIV,” said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.

The launch event was chaired by Qian Tang, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, who was joined by Jan Beagle, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Management and External Relations and Mark Richmond, UNESCO Global Coordinator for AIDS.

Other presenters included Lady Cristina Owen-Jones, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for HIV Prevention Education, Nobel Laureate Dr Luc Montagnier, Patricia Machawira, UNESCO Regional AIDS Advisor for East and Southern Africa and Pablo Torres Aguilera, Young People Living with HIV Officer at Dance4Life.

Speaking at the launch, Ms Beagle commended the new UNESCO strategy and the key role the organization plays in promoting the education sector engagement in national AIDS responses. “The UNESCO AIDS Strategy addresses critical challenges in protecting young people from HIV infection and places particular emphasis on the promotion of comprehensive HIV responses in the education sector.”

In the new strategy, HIV prevention education will be integrated within the context of wider health promotion to ensure that all girls and boys, and young women and men, have access to comprehensive health education. Furthermore, UNESCO strategy outlines three priority areas:

• Building country capacity for effective and sustainable education sector responses to HIV;

• Strengthening comprehensive HIV and sexuality education;

• Advancing gender equality and protecting human rights.

UNESCO hopes that its new AIDS strategy will reinforce the pivotal role of the education sector in a successful AIDS response. With knowledge about HIV and health issues provided in a nurturing and enabling environment, young people can make more informed choices about how to live safer and healthier lives. 

Learners participating in a ‘Positive Speaking’ intervention, in Luanda, Angola
Credit: UNESCO

Students and teachers in four southern African countries are benefiting from an ambitious HIV programme spearheaded by UNESCO. From its start in 2008, the programme was designed to strengthen the education sector’s AIDS response in Angola, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland.   

Called ‘Building knowledge, skills and hope: HIV and AIDS education for African children’, the three-year project has encompassed improving the curriculum and learning materials about HIV. It has also focused on supporting teacher training with better programme and policy guidance. The programme aimed to strengthen care and support systems for learners and education personnel affected by HIV as well as to improve the delivery of AIDS education in hundreds of schools. 

Implemented by UNESCO and financed by the Virginio Bruni Tedeschi Foundation, the project was carried out under the UNAIDS Global Initiative on Education and HIV and AIDS (EDUCAIDS) and reinforced ongoing work in each country’s ministry of education.

According to UNESCO the result has been the repositioning of the education sector at the centre of the national AIDS response in all four countries. Reforms are underway in all project countries to integrate HIV and sexuality education into the curricula of schools and teacher training institutions.   

The initiative has led to a number of innovations such as the establishment of the first national networks of teachers affected by HIV. “Since this initiative was launched, we share our experiences, our fears, our hopes and our dreams together,” said Nelao Martin, a teacher living with HIV and a member of the EduSector Support Network on Health and HIV in Namibia. “In the past, someone somewhere has necessarily been through the same difficulties and managed to deal with it.”

The first support groups for children and adolescents affected by AIDS have been established. Also, in partnership with associations of people living with HIV, new approaches have been used to reach out to positive learners in schools. ‘Positive Speaking’ sessions were introduced whereby personal testimonies and experiences of young, openly HIV-positive facilitators allowed pupils to ‘put a face’ to the virus.  

Nkuebe Peete, an HIV-positive 23 year-old living in Lesotho has taken part in such interventions: “I am proud to share my story and experience with younger people so that they do not make the same mistakes that I made and become supportive to those who live with HIV. This has given a new meaning to my life. I now have the feeling of being a much better person than before.”

In addition, innovative teaching and learning materials have been developed such as the series of speaking books on HIV for primary pupils in Swaziland. Most materials for the sensitization of older students have been developed by the learners themselves in creative and interactive ways. One particular approach involved national and regional ‘PhotoVoice’ exhibitions which highlighted testimonies of HIV-positive learners and teachers. In total, project activities have reached more than 4 000 schools, 17 000 teachers and nearly half a million learners.

Building on the groundwork laid by the project new initiatives are being developed. For example, in May 2011 Namibia’s ministry of education mandated and budgeted for the introduction of full-time teachers dedicated solely to life skills education, guidance and counselling in all primary and secondary schools. 

Lesotho and Swaziland are about to adopt policies that recognize the impact of AIDS on their education systems. Such policies call for the integration of strategies for prevention and care adapted to the needs of learners and teachers. Similar efforts have been initiated in Angola, which is addressing the formulation of an education sector strategy and policy on HIV.  

Project partners believe the programme has contributed significantly to improving the AIDS response in the education sectors in all four countries. According to Majoele Likonelo Hlasoa, Director of Planning at the Ministry of Education and Training in Lesotho, “When I first joined the Ministry of Education, I did not understand what the education sector could and should do about HIV, which I  considered then as a health issue falling fully under the responsibility of the Ministry of Health. Since I have been exposed to the EDUCAIDS framework for action, I have changed my mind and have a real understanding of the issues at stake.”

Students working with the Kenya government officials on sexuality education
Credit: UNESCO/Kenyan Centre for the Study of Adolescence

Sexuality education programmes can be highly cost-effective, especially when compulsory, adapted from existing models and integrated into the mainstream school curriculum. This is the major conclusion emerging from a seminal study released by UNESCO during a meeting of the UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team on Education in New York on 27 April 2011.

The study, Cost and cost-effectiveness: Analysis of school-based sexuality education programmes in six countries, examines a range of programmes in Estonia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, the Netherlands and Nigeria. It highlights significant cost savings in a number of settings. It also shows that compulsory programmes are more cost-effective as they reap the benefits and greater impact of full coverage of the student population.

For example, in Estonia a national sexuality education programme was introduced and linked with accessible, youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services. Between 2001 and 2009 some 13 490 ‘health events’ were averted in the country, including nearly 2 000 HIV infections, at a potential lifetime cost of US$ 67 825 per patient, approximately 4 300 unintended pregnancies and more than 7 000 sexually transmitted infections.

The report also provides a detailed breakdown of the costs per learner of each completed sexuality education curriculum in the six countries. This ranges from US$ 6.90 in Nigeria to US$ 32.80 in the Netherlands. There are significantly higher costs in smaller pilot programmes, such as Kenya and Indonesia.

According to Mark Richmond, UNESCO’s Global Coordinator for HIV and AIDS, the landmark study gives an economic basis to the argument that sexuality education provides a key platform for HIV prevention amongst young people.

“We now have the data and analysis to make a stronger and better informed case for investing in school-based sexuality education programmes, particularly in those countries most affected by the epidemic and prioritized for attention in the new UNAIDS Strategy 2011-2015.”

Reducing the sexual transmission of HIV by half by 2015, including among young people, is one of the goals of the UNAIDS Strategy. However, the 2010 UNAIDS global report shows a critical gap in comprehensive prevention knowledge about HIV amongst this age group and that about 40% of all new HIV infections among adults occur among young people aged 15-24. Cost and cost-effectiveness adds to the growing recognition that school-based sexuality education has the potential to play a key role in improving young people’s knowledge for HIV prevention.

Inter-Agency Task Team on Education

Formed in 2002, the Inter-Agency Task Team on Education is convened by UNESCO and brings together UNAIDS Cosponsors, bilateral agencies, private donors and civil society partners to accelerate and improve a coordinated and harmonized education sector response to HIV.

Children and adolescents from rural communities of Guatemala participating in the 5th Rolling Fair called More information, less infection.

More than 1000 indigenous children and adolescents aged 9 to 15 years old from rural communities of Guatemala learned about HIV in the 5^th Rolling Fair called More information, less infection.  The initiative, which took place in San Pedro Yepocapa, was organized by the non-governmental organization (NGO) Comunicares, with support from local authorities, the ministry of education, the municipality, public schools, and the children’s parents.

"Before I came to the fair I knew nothing about HIV. Now I have learned that HIV and AIDS are not the same thing, and also that we are very young for sex," said a 10 year old student looking to her friend as she tried to recall more information, "Ah! And that our body is only ours and no one can touch it.”

The event was part of a broader project “HIV prevention for vulnerable populations: rural, indigenous and sexually diverse” supported by UNAIDS with financial grants from the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

UNAIDS Project Coordinator Ms Pilar Marín highlighted that the project is a great opportunity to reach people, especially children and youth in the rural areas of Guatemala who have not had access to HIV information. "In Guatemala and specifically among the rural and indigenous populations, HIV is often perceived as a taboo.  Through the project we are enhancing skills and knowledge to achieve a change in the behaviour of young people, to avoid risky practices," said Ms Marín.

From 8 am until 6 pm students travelled through an educational and creative journey to learn about HIV. The Rolling Fair is an innovative initiative that consists of a train with 11 illustrative wagons. Each wagon provides information, entertainment and fun games related to themes such as modes of HIV transmission and ways to prevent HIV infection, sexual education, understanding of stigma and discrimination, as well as prevention of violence towards children, especially girls.

"The aim is that children learn through teenagers living in their own community and speak their own language. This fair also includes training for teachers and parents," remarked Oneida Rodas, Director of Comunicares.

The Dutch Ambassador Jan-Jaap van de Velde and UNAIDS Country Coordinator Enrique Zelaya also participated in the fair. They then traveled to San Juan Comalapa to take part in another event organized by the Association of Community Health Services (ASECSA). This initiative brought together 200 young students between 15 and 18 years of age from public institutions to participate in dynamic workshops and HIV awareness-raising talks as well as a play.

These activities have provided young people in this municipality with information about HIV prevention which is complementing the sexual and reproductive education received at school. According to government data, in 2009 only 23% of young people age 15 – 24 years old knew how to correctly identify ways of preventing sexual transmission of HIV and reject major misconceptions about HIV transmission.

Right for you! satellite. Credit: UNAIDS/Anna Rauchenberger

The thoughts and voices of young people took centre stage at the Vienna AIDS Conference yesterday as an innovative satellite session explored how they can best protect themselves from HIV. The session was organized by UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO. It provided an interactive platform for youth from around the world to discuss sexual and reproductive health services and provision of comprehensive information including sexuality education, condom use and HIV counselling and testing.

Called ‘Right for You! Creating Game Changing Strategies for HIV and Young People’, the event was structured around the outcome of an online survey, promoted across varied social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, AIDSspace and Conversations for a better world, to find out what young people really think about how to mount a meaningful and effective personal challenge to HIV. It was moderated by Ms Purnima Mane, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Deputy Executive Director (Programme).

The session explored how to achieve three bold goals for young people:

• Ensure at least 80% of young people in and out school have comprehensive knowledge of HIV.
• Double young people’s use of condoms during their last sexual intercourse.
• Double young people’s use of HIV testing and counselling services.

‘Empowering Young People to Protect Themselves against HIV’, is one of the priority areas of the UNAIDS Outcome Framework 2009-2011. The aim is to reduce new HIV infections among young people by 30% by 2015.

The three goals discussed in yesterday’s satellite are far-reaching and ambitious in scope. They were highlighted in the UNAIDS business case on empowering young people. The business case is an advocacy tool which outlines  why UNAIDS has prioritized young people and it recommends that the three results should be achieved in at least 9 of the 17 countries that have largest number of young people living with HIV by 2011, as well as in countries experiencing low and concentrated epidemics.

Those gathered at the event discussed how such results can be achieved and how the necessary good quality programmes can be scaled up at country level. An expert panel that included a youth facilitator, Ishita Chaudhry from India, Dr Doug Kirby, co-author of International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education: An evidence informed approach for schools, teachers and health educators, Darlington Muyambwa, Programme Manager, SAYWHAT Programme, Zimbabwe , and Shaffiq Essajee, WHO, responded to feedback from participants who expressed their views or asked questions via the web forums.

Exploring ways of empowering young people to protect themselves against HIV is vitally important given latest estimates showing that 15-24 year olds account for some 40% of all adult HIV infections globally. In 2007, far fewer than half of young people around the world had accurate knowledge about HIV.

Additionally, in many parts of the world young people have inadequate access to sexual and reproductive health services and commodities like condoms. Socio-cultural norms can act as barriers to these essential services and commodities which discourage young people from learning about and discussing sex and sexuality and accessing the services. The session explored ways to address these challenges and empower young people to make informed decisions about this key aspect of their lives.

“This is a unique experience with the UN I’ve never seen elsewhere,” said Lisa Sherburne, an HIV specialist with Save the Children. Credit: UN

Pham Xuan Tung talks eagerly and takes notes for his group during a biology lesson on HIV transmission and the replication of the virus in blood cells. This new type of highly interactive class is something Tung, a student at Hoang Quoc Viet upper secondary school in Dong Trieu District, Quang Ninh Province, clearly enjoys.

The class is based on a new, integrated reproductive health and HIV prevention curriculum for secondary school students being developed and piloted by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), with support from UNICEF, UNFPA, UNESCO and Save the Children in Viet Nam. Many students in Quang Ninh Province, Quang Tri Province and Ho Chi Minh City are following the new pilot curriculum.

A comprehensive national HIV prevention curriculum

Many students in Quang Ninh Province, Quang Tri Province and Ho Chi Minh City are following the new pilot curriculum. Credit: UN

“I have seen a positive change in the participation of students in my class. The new teaching and learning method allows room for every student to speak up, and they are much more responsive,” said Tung’s teacher Truong Thi Hoa.

The new curriculum for secondary schools nationwide draws on UN-supported work in schools, including healthy living and life skills programmes, reproductive health and HIV prevention initiatives, and pre-service training for teachers. Integrating the areas into core lessons and extra-curricular activities, it includes special training for parents so they can better discuss HIV and reproductive health issues with their children – subjects that can be particularly sensitive and difficult to address.

“This is a unique experience with the UN I’ve never seen elsewhere,” said Lisa Sherburne, an HIV specialist with Save the Children. “It allows more resources, more cohesive actions and a more powerful voice for the Viet Nam education sector.”

The changes are all aimed at integrating HIV prevention into the next national curriculum framework and new textbooks to be developed by the ministry and approved by the National Assembly in 2015.

However, many challenges remain. The ministry needs strong political leadership and greater capacity for planning and coordination, sufficient resources, teachers with better capacity, and effective intra-ministry and multisectoral coordination.

“Our biggest challenge is how to facilitate the close collaboration among departments in the ministry and among ministries related to the education sector response to HIV,” says La Quy Don, vice director of MOET’s Department of Student Affairs.

For Eamonn Murphy, UNAIDS Viet Nam Country Director, this is also a top priority.  “We are committed to providing joint support for policy-making, enhanced coordination and implementation of several key aspects of the education sector’s response to HIV.”

Empowering young people to protect themselves against HIV is a key priority area in UNAIDS Outcome Framework 2009-11.

A version of this story was first published at www.worldbank.org

Small stipends paid directly to young girls have had a powerful impact on their school attendance in Malawi, reducing drop-out rates considerably and helping to protect them from HIV. That’s among the findings from a study, supported by the World Bank, of a two-year cash transfer programme targeting girls aged 13 to 22 that wrapped up in December 2009.

Stipends ranging from $1-$5 a month for the adolescent girls, in addition to payments to parents that ranged from $4-$10, reduced drop-out rates by approximately 40 percent.

And, for every extra dollar a girl received above $1, “enrolment increased by a percentage point,” says Berk Özler, a senior economist with the World Bank’s Development Research Group.

Özler and fellow researchers Sarah Baird of The George Washington University and Craig McIntosh of the University of California, San Diego, wanted to test the best way to use cash payments known as conditional cash transfers to boost school enrolment among young women in sub-Saharan Africa.

Drop-out rates are high among teenage girls in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in Africa. One of the main reasons is the relatively high cost of secondary school. Another is that Malawian girls tend to marry at a young age, and “once a girl is married, schooling is over,” says Özler.

Keeping girls in school who otherwise would have dropped out may not only increase learning, but delay marriage and reduce the rate of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Adult HIV prevalence in Malawi is around 12 percent, according to UNAIDS estimates.

In another paper, researchers found that the onset of sexual activity was significantly delayed among girls who took part in the programme, and their likelihood of being married or pregnant after one year had declined.

Past studies have suggested that “just the fact of being in school may lead to these desirable outcomes but the evidence was scant,” Özler says.

These current findings reinforce UNAIDS’ evidence-based contention that girls continuing their education greatly lowers their vulnerability to HIV. For those who stay in secondary school, each additional year means they are more likely to develop the skills and experience needed to keep themselves safe from HIV.

According to Patrick Brenny, UNAIDS Country Coordinator in Malawi, the study underlines the critical necessity of a comprehensive approach to reducing young women and girls' risk and vulnerability to HIV infection in Malawi.

“Staying in school is part of an effective ‘social vaccine’ with respect to sexual risk behaviour,” said Mr Brenny.

Empowering young people to protect themselves against HIV is one of the nine priority areas in the UNAIDS Outcome Framework 2009-11.

Cash transfers boost schooling, nutrition

In countries without adequate safety net support, children’s nutrition often suffers, and children, especially girls, are taken out of school. In an attempt to counteract this trend, some 29 developing countries have put in place some type of conditional cash transfers programme to boost schooling and nutrition, with many others planning on piloting one.

The World Bank backs conditional cash transfers programmes in 13 countries. It provided $2.4 billion to such initiatives in 2009 during the global economic crisis. Studies have found that cash payments to the female head of household leads to better outcomes for children and families. In Brazil, for instance, the chance of childhood survival increases by 20 percent.

But the effect of cash payments made directly to girls versus parents had not been studied until now.

Support to girls ‘makes sense’

In Malawi, the researchers wanted to find out whether the monetary amount of the cash transfer would make a difference, and whether making the payment conditional on school attendance would have an additional impact. They also wanted to test whether making payments directly to girls would affect the outcome.

The study involved a sample of 3,805 girls and young women aged 13 to 22 in 176 urban and rural areas in Zomba, a highly populated district with high dropout rates and low educational attainment. According to a 2005 government survey, children drop out of school mainly due to financial hardship.

Of these girls, a randomly selected group of 1,225 were either offered stipends on the condition they attend school 80 percent of the time, or offered the same stipends unconditionally. The rest did not receive any offers and served as the comparison group for the study.

Girls getting the monthly stipend participated in a lottery where they picked a bottle cap out of an envelope to win an amount between $1 and $5 a month. Guardians were also randomly assigned a separate amount ranging from $4 to $10 a month. On average, girls received $3 and their parents $7, meaning that cash payments to both girls and guardians totalled an average of $10 a month, but ranged from $5-$15.

Each household received an informational sheet detailing the amounts and conditions of the offer, if there were any, and the contract was signed by the girl and her guardian.

Özler says that the condition to attend school at least 80 percent of the time did not seem to make a difference to schooling outcomes in Malawi, nor did increased total cash payments above the minimum of $5 per month. That’s in contrast to the CCT experience in Latin America, where the condition to attend school has been key to the programme’s success.

The girls, however, were demonstrably motivated by their stipends, which they mostly spent on personal items such as clothing.

“The study was successful in getting dropouts to come back to school and in keeping girls in school. Maybe it makes sense to directly support adolescent girls,” says Özler.

The researchers are now conducting follow-up tests and surveys in Malawi to assess, among other things, the impact of the programme on maths and reading skills.

The study was funded by the Global Development Network; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the World Bank’s Gender Action Plan, Knowledge for Change Trust Fund, World Development Report 2007 Small Grants Fund, Spanish Impact Evaluation Fund, and Research Group; and the National Bureau of Economic Research in the United States.

photo caption. Credit:

It is critical that young people most-at-risk of HIV infection are better informed and equipped with skills to protect themselves. This was a key argument emerging from an international symposium convened to address the education sector’s response to the challenge of HIV among this key population.

Held in Berlin in early December, the meeting of the UNAIDS Inter-agency Task Team (IATT) on Education was hosted by German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It brought together some 70 experts from around the world to discuss concrete ways forward to reach, with prevention messages, the most vulnerable young people already engaging in high-risk behaviour, such as multiple partnerships, inter-generational sex, unprotected male-to-male sex, sex work or injecting drug use.

Young people in general are especially vulnerable to the virus. According to the UNAIDS 2009 AIDS Epidemic Update, those aged 15-24 account for 40% of all new infections. This is exacerbated by the fact that only 40% of young people in the same age group have accurate knowledge about HIV and transmission. Helping youth avoid infection is seen as crucial for social and economic development, and providing them with AIDS-related knowledge and skills is a central concern of the UNAIDS IATT on Education.

Reaching those who have never been to school or who have dropped out early and left the formal education sector represents a particular challenge and the symposium examined a range of possible approaches to reach vulnerable adolescents and youth both in and out of school, looking at specifically targeted responses.

Ishita Chaudhry from the YP Foundation in India noted that while sexuality was a fundamental component of being human there was a failure to get basic information to young people to help protect them from HIV infection. “Why is sexuality so problematic?” she asked.

According to Dr Robert Carr, the Associate Director of the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) and keynote speaker, young people are too often “left to fend for themselves”, receiving inadequate preparation for their sexual and reproductive lives.

Fear, stigma and discrimination, laws and policies were identified as barriers to meeting the needs of those most vulnerable and ensuring their involvement in developing and implementing interventions. According to Els Klinkert, Senior Policy Adviser at UNAIDS, the “most-at-risk young people in low and concentrated epidemics are largely invisible”. This notion of invisibility was also invoked by Dr. Carr referring to gay and bisexual youth in the Caribbean. “Hidden behaviours” and limited frank discussions about these behaviours were seen to be problematic.

Symposium participants were able to review existing data on education sector approaches to HIV prevention; exchange ideas and experiences; and develop recommendations for outreach strategies that target young people in inclusive and gender-sensitive ways.

The sector was seen to play a role in multiple aspects of the response for most-at-risk young people. It was noted, firstly, that schools often extend farther into many communities than most public services – and have the potential to reach children and young people before they engage in most-at-risk behaviours. Secondly, good quality education that focuses on empowerment within safe and protective environments has a sustained impact on reducing vulnerability and behaviours that create, increase or perpetuate risk. Thirdly, comprehensive sexuality education – which addresses sexual and reproductive health, human rights, HIV prevention, gender, drugs and other aspects – was seen to equip learners with the necessary knowledge and skills to make informed decisions.

There was a shared understanding that young people should be at the heart of HIV programming, not just as passive recipients of information and services but as involved actors and that this is critical when developing and implementing HIV interventions. The statement issued by youth representatives at the meeting reinforced this point: “We demand the meaningful involvement of diverse youth communities, especially young people living with HIV as they are the key role models and leaders in the movement…We young people are here living, working, and ready to take responsibility along with your support and mentorship. We are not future leaders, we are leaders of today.”

Empowering young people to protect themselves from HIV is one of the nine priority focus areas for UNAIDS and its Cosponsors under the Joint action for results: UNAIDS outcome framework 2009-2011.

Formed in 2002, the IATT on Education is convened by UNESCO and brings together UNAIDS Cosponsors, bilateral agencies, private donors and civil society partners with the purpose of accelerating and improving a coordinated and harmonised education sector response to HIV.

(From L to R) Mark Richmond, UNESCO’s Global Coordinator on HIV and AIDS, Dr Mariangela Batista Galvao Simao, Director, Brazil National STD/AIDS Programme, Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director, Elizabeth Mataka, member of the Global Advisory Group on Sexuality Education and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa and Marijke Wijnroks, the AIDS ambassador for the Netherlands
Credit: UNAIDS/D.Bregnard

In many parts of the world, a combination of social taboos, unavailability of sound information, lack of resources and infrastructure make it difficult for children and young people to access sexuality education aimed at improving knowledge and reducing risk. This leaves many young people vulnerable to coercion, abuse, exploitation, unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.

According to the UNAIDS 2008 Global Report on the AIDS Epidemic, only 40% of young people aged 15-24 had accurate knowledge about HIV and transmission. It should come as no surprise that, against this background of insufficient levels of basic knowledge, young people aged 15-24 account for 40% of all new HIV infections (UNAIDS 2009 AIDS Epidemic Update).

In response to this challenge, the voluntary and non-mandatory International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education developed by UNESCO in partnership with UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO seeks to assist education, health and other relevant authorities to develop and implement school-based sexuality education materials and programmes. The International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education is based on a rigorous review of evidence on sexuality education programmes and is aimed at education and health sector decision-makers and professionals.

Sexuality education can play a key role in improving knowledge and reducing sexual risk behaviours among young people. Equipped with better knowledge, information and skills, young people can be empowered to make informed decisions about sexual choices.

“If we are to make an impact on children and young people before they become sexually active, comprehensive sexuality education must become part of the formal school curriculum, delivered by well trained and supported teachers,” says Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director. “Teachers remain trusted sources of knowledge and skills in all education systems and they are a highly valued resource in the education sector response to AIDS.”

The International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education was co-authored by leading experts in the field of sexuality education and subjected to extensive review and comment by a global panel of experts and practitioners from civil society organizations, ministries of education and international agencies. Volume I of the International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education focuses on the rationale for sexuality education and provides sound technical advice on characteristics of effective programmes. It is the outcome of a rigorous review of the literature on the impact of sexuality education and sexual behaviour, drawing upon 87 studies from around the world.

A companion document (Volume II) focuses on the topics and learning objectives to be covered in a ‘basic minimum package’ on sexuality education for children and young people from 5 to 18+ years of age and includes a bibliography of useful resources. It was informed by a review of curricula from 12 countries, as well as other international models.

“Numerous studies show that with the right information and skills, young people can change their behaviour to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV infection or passing it on to others,” says Mark Richmond, UNESCO’s Global Coordinator on HIV and AIDS and the Director for the Division for the Coordination of UN Priorities in Education. “At a minimum, HIV and AIDS education needs to include information on the HIV virus and its modes of transmission. At some point, HIV and AIDS education must introduce sex and relationships education - simply because over 75% of all HIV infections occur through sexual transmission.”

The UN organizations called on policy-makers to listen to young people, families, teachers and other practitioners, and use the International Technical Guidance to make sexuality education an integral part of the national response to the HIV pandemic.

UNESCO and its partners including UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO, as well as a wide range of other partners, will support governments in operationalising the International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education at regional and country level. The two volumes of the International Technical Guidance will be published in all the six UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) as well as Portuguese.

The education sector plays a critical role in national responses to the HIV epidemic. However, this contribution is often poorly appreciated and understood due to limited, difficult-to-measure data and the absence of agreement on core indicators for the sector.

To assist ministries of education and their partners in measuring progress and outcomes of related efforts, a host of international experts met in London on 9-10 November to develop a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework for education sector responses to AIDS. This framework aims to assist ministries of education and other partners in outlining and measuring the main programme outputs and outcomes of the education sector, facilitating the development of effective, results-focused interventions.

Convened by the Partnership for Child Development (PCD) of Imperial College, on behalf of the Indicators Working Group of the UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) on Education, the experts attending the meeting included individuals with significant expertise in M&E, in education sector responses and with a great deal of programme experience. Programme managers from Southern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and South and South-East Asia attended.

The meeting built on a review of existing indicators used to monitor education sector HIV responses undertaken by PCD on behalf of the UNAIDS IATT on Education Indicators Working Group. It also contributed to an effort underway by a wide range of partners associated with the FRESH (Focusing Resources on Effective School Health) Initiative to develop an M&E framework for school-based health and nutrition and HIV prevention interventions.

As well as reaching agreement on appropriate priorities for the monitoring and evaluation of the sector’s work, the meeting also achieved consensus on prioritising indicators that could be used.

Indicators examined included those helping the education sector address the following questions:

1. Within the context of a national AIDS response, is there a response in the education sector that is guided and enabled by policy, strategy and resources?

2. Is HIV, reproductive and sexual health education a timetabled subject delivered in schools? Is it mandatory and assessed? Are HIV-related life skills delivered through co-curricular means?

3. Are educators receiving pre-service and in-service training about HIV (for themselves) and about teaching HIV to students?

4. Is the education sector facilitating testing, treatment, care and support services for learners and educators? Are measures in place to make schools safe and protective environments?

In addition to indicators to measure these short-term outcomes, the group also considered intermediate outcomes such as knowledge about HIV and those of a long-term nature such as age of sexual debut.

The draft M&E framework and proposed indicators will be presented to the UNAIDS IATT on Education at its meeting on 2-4 December 2009 in Berlin, Germany. Anticipated next steps include field-testing the new proposed indicators, and refining the definitions of existing ones. This will be taken forward by members of the IATT on Education’s Indicators Working Group in early 2010, in consultation with ministries of education and national partners.

According to Michael Beasley, director of Partnership for Child Development at Imperial College, “Getting things right in the education sector’s monitoring and evaluation of its response to HIV is essential if it is to provide a ‘social vaccine’ to the epidemic, offering knowledge and personal skills which can prevent HIV.” He added, “It is estimated that young people who fail to complete a basic education are more than twice as likely to become infected as those who do. Education also reduces the vulnerability of girls, and each year of schooling offers greater protective benefits.”

Empowering young people to protect themselves from HIV is one of the nine priority areas for UNAIDS and its Cosponsors under the Joint Action for Results: UNAIDS Outcome Framework 2009-2011.

Formed in 2002, the UNAIDS IATT on Education is convened by UNESCO and brings together UNAIDS Cosponsors and other multilateral organisations, bilateral agencies, private donors and civil society partners with the purpose of accelerating and improving a coordinated and harmonised education sector response to HIV.