Education

Credit: UNAIDS/agencialibrefoto

At the conclusion of the 1st Meeting of Ministers of Education and Health to prevent HIV in Latin America and the Caribbean, Ministers of Education and Health have signed an historic declaration pledging to provide comprehensive sex education as part of the school curriculum in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Ministerial Declaration

The Ministers committed to promoting concrete actions for HIV prevention among young people in their countries by implementing sex education and sexual health promotion programmes.

The sex education programmes will cover a broad range of topics including biological information, social and cultural information with discussion on gender, diversity of sexual orientation and identity along with ethics and human rights.

The Declaration also recognized the responsibility of the State to promote human development, including education and health, as well as to combat discrimination.

Promoting sexual health to impact HIV prevention

The meeting took place on 1 August 2008 and was co-hosted by Dr. José Ángel Córdova Villalobos (MÉxico), Minister of Health and Lic. Josefina Vázquez Mota (Mexico), Minister of Public Education in collaboration with Canciller Patricia Espinosa Cantellano (MÉxico), Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Credit: UNAIDS/agencialibrefoto

UNAIDS Executive Director Dr Peter Piot and UNFPA Executive Director, Dr Thoraya Ahmed Obaid delivered an address on HIV prevention on behalf of the UN System.

The Ministerial meeting was preceded by a technical meeting held on 31 July. Advisors to the Ministers of Health and Education, technical experts from UN agencies, academics and civil society representatives discussed a broad range of issues around comprehensive sexuality education and HIV prevention.

Discussions took place in three regional working groups and included analysis of the barriers to strengthening sexuality education and sexual health promotion programmes and how to enhance collaboration between the Ministries of Health and Education.

A teenage girl and a young woman sit
together exploring the internet at the HIV
Shelter, “Guli Surkh”.
Credit: Warrick Page/PANO/UNFPA

The United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) is supporting a unique set of media and training interventions in Tajikistan designed to raise awareness, reduce stigma and provide adolescents with the tools to improve their reproductive and sexual health.

Vulnerable youth

It is early morning at Dushanbe’s school number one. Sunlight is streaming through the dusty windows and the hallways are filled with a polyphony of young voices on their way to class.

Once they are settled in their seats, instructor Ferozia Nabieva, an obstetrician-gynaecologist, introduces the class and then launches into a lively discussion about reproductive health, contraception and HIV. Mindful of the strangers in their midst, the students are shy at first. But one by one the hands reach tentatively upward to an accompaniment of barely stifled giggles.

This grade nine class is mixed girls and boys, but others are segregated by gender. Privacy and comfort are critical when it comes to reaching out to young people, says Dr Nabieva. “In these classes they can share their concerns and get answers. Anywhere else they might experience shame, which is why we work with trainers who are also young and whom they trust.”

Some of the younger male trainers work primarily with boys and young men. Should students require more in-depth counselling, they are referred to the Dushanbe Reproductive Health Centre where a youth-friendly clinic deals solely with their young constituents.

UNFPA is negotiating with Ministry of Education to bring sexual and reproductive health programming into the classroom. The reasons behind this are mostly demographic. By 2015, 50% more young people will be attending the country’s schools. Informing young people of their reproductive health and rights – including the right to contraceptives – encourages responsibility and safer sexual behaviours that will decrease the risk of HIV infection.

Reaching out through radio and TV

A TV monitor shows filming of "Healthy
Generation"; a weekly-broadcast, youth-
issues based TV show.
Credit: Warrick Page/PANO/UNFPA

In-school programmes can go only so far given the remote locations of many Tajik communities and the fact that so many lack access to electricity, school and services during the long, snowy winter months. To that end, UNFPA is also piloting a series of radio and TV shows that specifically focus on youth, reproductive health and HIV.

Boimorod Bobodjanov is the 31-year-old UNFPA youth projects manager. It was under his auspices that the organization began a series of TV pilots specifically for and about youth. After much cajoling, financial brinkmanship and concerted wooing aimed at the right quarters, UNFPA was able to secure four slots per month for a talk show about sexual and reproductive health that involves youth.

So successful is the show -- dubbed Safina -- that it will soon be on the popular seven o’clock Friday evening time slot.

The end result? A slick one-hour talk show that challenges traditional Tajik ways of perceiving issues such as gender rights and reproductive health, while maintaining respect for customs such as respect for elders and concern for the community. In order to get the show rolling, Mr. Bobodjanov had to act as fundraiser, producer, art director and writer. Although the government was initially opposed to the plan, the show has been airing for an entire year and the ratings are favourable. Today, the MTV-supported show is being branded under the umbrella of Y-PEER, a network of youth peer educators pioneered by UNFPA in 2000.

The hostess, 26-year-old Sitora Ashurova, is a former Y-PEER counsellor, who recalls with pleasure the very first time a person living with HIV spoke publicly about his status on national TV. “It was pretty special,” she says. “It was the first time the average Tajik could see that a person living with HIV could be anyone.”

Although programmers still have to skirt around specific terms such as condoms (referring to condoms as ‘protection’), Mr. Bobodjanov looks forward to the day when discussions will become even more open and that young people all over the country will know how to avoid HIV, where to get treatment if they do acquire it and that those living with the virus should be treated with the respect that they would accord any other person.

Because 42% of young people surveyed say they receive most of their information about HIV from TV, projects like Safina are a critical tool not only in the response to the disease itself, but the stigma that surrounds it.

Recognizing the vital role of the education sector in national responses to HIV, the UNAIDS Committee of Cosponsoring Organizations (CCO) launched EDUCAIDS in March 2004.

EDUCAIDS is the UNAIDS Global Initiative on Education and AIDS. It is led by UNESCO in collaboration with governments, UN partners, and civil society organizations. The initiative seeks to promote, develop and support comprehensive education sector responses to HIV.

EDUCAIDS has two primary aims: to prevent the spread of HIV through education and to protect the core functions of the education system from the worst effects of the epidemic including the loss of teachers and other education professionals to the disease.

EDUCAIDS Resource Pack

As countries put in place and implement comprehensive, scaled-up responses towards universal access to HIV prevention programmes, treatment, care and support, EDUCAIDS aims to mobilize the education sector and has recently published a Resource Pack developed by UNESCO in close collaboration with a range of UN agencies and international organizations, including members of the UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) on Education.

This resource pack is designed to support ministries of education and other stakeholders at the country level. It aims to give technical guidance on developing and implementing policies, determining resource allocations and implementing programmes for education and HIV.

In 2007, representatives from 60 countries participated in EDUCAIDS-related activities, with progress achieved in developing comprehensive HIV and AIDS education strategies in over half of these. National priority actions were identified in 39 countries for continued follow-up through seven sub-regional capacity-building workshops.

Capacity for policy development and programme implementation was further enhanced through technical assistance and information exchange including two UNESCO-supported sub-regional consultations in East and Southern Africa on addressing the needs of HIV-positive teachers and on strengthening the role of schools in HIV treatment, care and support.

Currently available in English, the Resource Pack will soon be published in Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. All language versions will also be included in a forthcoming CD-ROM.

Limited copies of the Resource Pack can be ordered free-of-charge by emailing aids@unesco.org and specifying the number of copies and preferred language version.

The resource pack contains the following materials:

1. EDUCAIDS Framework for Action
   This outlines five essential components of comprehensive education sector responses to HIV implementation support available through the EDUCAIDS initiative. This version is an update of the 2006 Framework, taking into account the 2007 UNESCO Strategy to Respond to HIV, as well as feedback from six recent regional and sub-regional meetings and workshops involving nearly 40 countries.
2. EDUCAIDS Technical Briefs
   These are 35 two-page summaries of key issues related to a comprehensive education sector response. Each brief can be used as a stand-alone reference, and together they offer comprehensive and flexible guidelines on the continuum of activities required to respond to the epidemic at the country level.
3. EDUCAIDS Overviews of Practical Resources
   These overviews provide guidance on the technical and operational aspects of the response.  Each includes a resource summary list and a two-page analysis of the included resources identifying crucial resource gaps, needs for further research, and additional online resources.

By involving the entire community, the HIV education campaign has become a local effort.

Like many young people, 19-year-old Rifal* never used to worry about AIDS. He saw it as a problem that only affected high-risk groups, such as intravenous drug users. His view changed in February 2006, when he learned he was HIV positive. Rifal hasn’t told his family or friends of his status. He fears being stigmatized. The only place he feels comfortable discussing his condition is at a clinic, where he receives medical and psychological care.While AIDS affects all of Indonesia, in Papua the proportion of people living with HIV relative to the total population is well over 10 times the national rate.

Through the campaign, peer educators in Papua are teaching students about HIV before they become sexually active.

To stem the tide of transmission, a programme supported by UNAIDS Cosponsor organization UNICEF is educating young people in Papua about HIV. The goal of this campaign is to promote awareness in the classroom and train young people to serve as peer educators. In addition to visiting older students, UNICEF is working to bring AIDS education to young people in junior high school – a critical time to reach out to young people on HIV and sexuality. The HIV education effort also aims to reach out to at least 10,000 young people who are no longer attending school. Peer educators visit local hangouts and areas on the beach that are frequented by young people who may no longer be in school and hand out booklets about AIDS awareness.As well as reaching out to young people, the programme also trains teachers to educate students about reproductive health and HIV.

The HIV education campaign has become a local effort – with Papuans helping other Papuans to protect themselves.

Rifal believes this grassroots effort is needed to contain the spread of HIV. “Young people need to know more about using condoms and protecting themselves so that they don’t take risks,” he said. Sister Zita Kuswati, a Catholic nun in the regency of Sorong, has become one of the area’s most tireless and outspoken advocates in the fight against AIDS. As the leader of an HIV support group, Sister Kuswati believes information is power for young people.“We really needn’t be afraid of AIDS if we know how it is transmitted,” she said. “Students should be made aware of the method of transmission, the method of prevention and how people can be treated as early as possible.” “The epidemic in Papua is becoming more generalized, so raising awareness among young people is absolutely vital,” said Jane Wilson, UNAIDS Country Coordinator in Indonesia. “Greater education is helping young people make a difference within their communities and can help turn the tide on the epidemic.” 

By Steve Nettleton, UNICEF. This story first appeared on the UNICEF web site www.unicef.org

*Name has been changed to protect identity
All photo credit : UNICEF Video

Packed with 750 young navy cadets, the  Rio de Janeiro’s Naval School hosted representatives from the Brazilian Ministries of Defense and Health, UNAIDS and UNFPA to launch the STD, HIV and AIDS Prevention Programme in the Armed Forces and Military Academies.

Conceived as a follow-up to the 2004 Agreement between UNAIDS and the Brazilian Government to strengthen prevention among the country’s conscripts, the project aims to enhance military capacity to plan, monitor and evaluate prevention activities.

The programme will also integrate HIV prevention in military schools curricula and Armed Forces training courses. “There is a correlation between low education, low information and HIV. Those who have more access to information are better protected” said Admiral Carlos Edson Martins da Silva, Coordinator of the Programme in the Brazilian Ministry of Defense.

With more than 310,000 personnel stretched across the country, the Armed Forces are a key actor in Brazil’s HIV prevention. Brazil’s well structured health services are available not only to military personnel, but also to civilians in remote regions otherwise without access to public health services. Brazilian Government also produces generic antiretroviral drugs that are available to the population at reduced prices.

New course materials include a training guide and a peer education toolkit, and are specifically adapted to the Brazilian setting. “Providing information alone is not enough. We need to change attitudes and you will be the agents of this change”, Dr. Andrea Boccardi, UNAIDS Latin America Regional Advisor for AIDS, Security and Humanitarian Response addressed the navy aspirants attending the launching ceremony.

HIV prevention efforts in Brazil’s Armed Forces date back to the 90’s. The research carried out between 1996 and 2000 by Brazilian Ministry of Health shows a consistent increase in the use of condoms among young conscripts, from 38% in 1997 to 50% in 2000.

For more information, please contact Naiara G. da Costa Chaves (UNAIDS - Brasil) naiara@undp.org.br

It is with profound sadness that UNAIDS mourns the death of AIDS activist Wellington Solomon Adderly who was killed at his home in Nassau, Bahamas earlier this week. Mr Adderly was one of the leading figures in the response to HIV in the Bahamas having served for many years as President of the Bahamas National Network of Positive Living. He was also a prominent member of the Bahamas Resource Committee and Administrator of the Bahamas AIDS Foundation.