UNFPA The United Nations Population Fund

Women clearing rubble from the streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Credit: UN Photo/Sophia Paris

Too often women suffer the worst consequences of war. In certain parts of the world gender-based and sexual violence are increasingly used as a weapon of conflict and are a prevalent characteristic of numerous humanitarian crises. The latest flagship report from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), State of world population 2010, explores the dangerous consequences for women caught in conflict and crisis who are left vulnerable to HIV infection, disabilities, social stigma and psychological trauma. 

The publication of the report, which also highlights many positive actions by individuals, civil society and governments to confront this issue, coincides with the tenth anniversary of Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. The resolution is the United Nation’s Security Council’s challenge to the abuse of women in conflict and their marginalisation in the peace building process.

Subtitled From conflict and crisis to renewal: generations of change, the report examines developments in the 10 years since this key resolution. The report is based on stories from the field in a range of countries that have experienced turmoil and are now on the sometimes rocky road to recovery: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Liberia, Timor-Leste and Uganda.

HIV in crisis situations

The impact of HIV in crisis situations is also explored. Sexual violence makes women vulnerable to HIV infection. The social instability, poverty and powerlessness that often accompany social upheaval and displacement also facilitates HIV transmission with weakening of norms regulating sexual behaviour. 

The report shows how women and young people have overcome difficulties and started to rebuild their lives and their communities. In post-conflict northern Uganda, where a rebel war raged for more than 20 years, young people are working with the local branch of Straight Talk Foundation, a national NGO, which has set up the Gulu Youth Centre. It is now a major provider of sexual and reproductive health care for youth in the area, including HIV counselling and testing. This is a much-needed service for the region's young women as older teenage girls are much more likely to be living with HIV.

Women and men together for peace

There is also recognition that men play a vital role in bringing about positive change. Male traditional leaders in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region are now taking women’s rights and needs into account in decision-making.

Increasingly, women are also elected as local leaders on their own steam and take active part in re-building society in post-conflict situations. For example in Burundi and Nepal, two conflict affected countries, women in civil society have been heralded for their efforts and impact throughout the peace process.

According to the State of world population, concerned people at all levels are searching for ways to build new and healthy societies where women and girls—and men and boys—can flourish.

As Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA’s Executive Director, said about the report, “Countries should not just be rebuilt, but built back better and renewed, with women and men on equal footing, with rights and opportunities for all.”

Sex workers, government officials and UN representatives joined the first-ever Asia-Pacific regional consultation on HIV and sex work. Credit: APNSW

HIV transmission via sex work accounts for many new HIV infections  in the Asia-Pacific region. Yet in many countries HIV prevention, treatment and care services for sex workers are lacking. At the first consultation of its kind in the region, sex workers, government officials and United Nations participants emphasized the urgent need for action to increase focus on sex work within national HIV responses.

“I was arrested when the police saw I had condoms.” “Sex workers’ rights are being violated.” “Sex workers are going underground now. We don’t know where they are.”

These are just some of the experiences shared at the first-ever Asia-Pacific consultation on HIV and sex work, held in Pattaya, Thailand, from 12-15 October. Some 150 participants from eight countries* in the region—including sex workers, government officials, representatives from civil society and the United Nations—came together to call for a greater emphasis on ensuring universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services for sex workers.

Hosted by the Royal Government of Thailand and co-organized by UNAIDS and UNFPA, in collaboration with the Asia-Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW), meeting participants shared strategies and developed national action plans to be carried forward.

Sex work accounts for a significant number of new HIV infections in the Asia–Pacific region. An estimated 10 million Asian women sell sex to 75 million men who, in turn, have intimate relations with an additional 50 million people. In some countries in the region, HIV prevalence among sex workers is nearly 20%. Meet participants stressed that spending on HIV services is falling, despite evidence of their cost-effective impact and that only about one third of sex workers in the region are able to access HIV prevention programmes.

Khartini Slamah of APNSW moderates a discussion on legal and policy barriers. Credit: APNSW

Meeting participants also pointed to numerous punitive laws and policies that can prevent sex workers from accessing HIV services. “Sex workers experience firsthand the effects of laws and harmful enforcement practices that violate their human rights and hamper progress in the HIV response,” said Jan Beagle, UNAIDS Deputy-Executive Director, Management and External Relations, who attended the consultation. “Listening to sex workers is crucial.”

Participants in the consultation heard how sex workers are frequently subjected to violence and harassment, and often face criminal charges and detention. Participants said enforcement of elements within new anti-trafficking and other related laws in some countries including Cambodia, Fiji and Thailand had exacerbated this situation, citing recent cases where carrying condoms had led to arrests.

“Every day we confront brutal realities—arrest, violence, discrimination,” said Kay Thi Win, Chair of APNSW and programme manager of a successful and long-running outreach programme in Myanmar that is largely run by sex workers or former sex workers. “We want to turn the tide by demanding that initiatives designed ‘for’ us be designed ‘with’ us,” she said.

*Cambodia, China, Fiji, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and Thailand

A version of this story first appeared at www.unfpa.org 

The UNFPA-sponsored football tournament offered a way to get the attention of young people in northern Uganda. Photo: Stijn Aelbers/UNFPA Uganda

Although hostilities in northern Uganda ceased in 2006, the lives of young people, formerly targets for abduction by the Lord’s Resistance Army, have not been easy. During the conflict, which lasted more than 20 years, many children spent their early years confined to camps for displaced persons, while others were subjected to trauma, brutality and suffering as child soldiers.

Prolonged instability also took a toll on health and social support systems: reproductive health indicators in the sub-region are among the lowest in the country, and gender-based violence is common.

While the majority of youth—who comprise 56 % of Uganda’s population—live in poverty with few educational or employment opportunities, football is one thing that they can get excited about and that allows them to forget about their troubles. Florence, age 23, from a squad in Gulu District said, “If we come to play football we forget our problems at home. It is like stress management.”

At the Acholi Football Tournament, which took place in five districts, and was supported by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, the goal was to do more than more than help young people relax. It also aimed to reduce teenage pregnancy and gender-based violence, two of the most serious problems in the area.

Referees, coaches, and team captains attended training sessions on the issues, and then became a resource for information, discussion, and guidance. Subsequent dialogue sessions reached some 1,200 players.

Top local officials awarded the winning teams with uniforms that read, “Say no to GBV (gender-based violence) and teenage pregnancy.” Health care workers were also on hand to answer questions and provide health counseling. Over the course of two days, some 10,000 condoms, most supplied by UNFPA, were distributed by health workers and peer counsellors as well as representatives of the Boda Boda Association, which employs many young men as motorcycle taxis drivers.

More than 800 individuals, mostly young men, took advantage of the free voluntary testing and counselling that was offered to allow them to check their HIV status.

Women were also on the pitch, although many are less experienced than their male counterparts, spectators say the buzz of the women’s matches created were a demonstration of the growing popularity and re-thinking of gender roles

A player from the Lalogi team said she has encountered negative attitudes. (See how these are addressed in a new electronic football game.) However, 21-year-old Rose said her husband was supportive: “He is happy that I play. I think he is here watching today,” she shouted over her shoulder as she ran onto the pitch for kick-off.           

The number of women dying due to complications during pregnancy   and childbirth  has decreased   by 34% from an estimated 546 000 in 1990 to 358 000 in 2008, according to a new report, Trends in maternal mortality, released by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Bank.

Despite this notable progress, the annual rate of decline is less than half of what is needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of reducing the maternal mortality ratio (the number of deaths per 100,000 live births) by 75% between 1990 and 2015. This will require an annual decline of 5.5%: the current average annual decline of just 2.3%.

"The global reduction in maternal death rates is encouraging news," says Dr Margaret Chan, the Director-General of WHO.”No woman should die due to inadequate access to family planning and to pregnancy and delivery care."

For nations with high HIV prevalence, AIDS has become a leading cause of death during pregnancy and after the birth. There is also some evidence that women living with HIV are at greater risk of maternal death. Overall, it was estimated that there were 42 000 deaths due to AIDS among pregnant women globally in 2008. About half of those are estimated to be maternal. The contribution of HIV was highest in sub-Saharan Africa where 9% of all maternal deaths were AIDS-related.

“Integrating HIV services with maternal and sexual and reproductive health services is imperative to stop mothers from dying and babies from being born with HIV,” said Mr Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director. “The AIDS movement must be leveraged to achieve reductions in maternal and child mortality.

According to the report pregnant women die from four major causes: severe bleeding after childbirth, infections, hypertensive disorders, and unsafe abortion. Every day, about 1000 women died due to these complications in 2008, more than half in sub-Saharan Africa. The risk of a woman in a low-income country dying from a pregnancy- related cause during her lifetime is about 35 times greater than a woman living in a high-income country.

"To achieve our global goal of improving maternal health and to save women's lives we need to do more to reach those who are most at risk," says Anthony Lake, Executive Director of UNICEF. "That means reaching women in rural areas and poorer households, women from ethnic minorities and indigenous groups, and women living with HIV and in conflict zones."

The new estimates show that it is possible to prevent many more women dying. Countries need to invest in their health systems and in the quality of care.

"Every birth should be safe and every pregnancy wanted,” says Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the Executive Director of UNFPA.The lack of maternal health care violates women's rights to life, health, equality, and non-discrimination.

UN agencies, donors and other partners have increasingly coordinated their assistance to countries, focusing on those with the greatest burden.

According to Tamar Manuelyan Atinc, Vice President for Human Development at the World Bank, “Given the weak state of health systems in many countries, we must work closely with governments, aid donors and agencies, and other partners to strengthen these systems.

Over five days, delegates from 112 countries—including 25 000 youth and representatives from government, civil society and the United Nations—shared ideas on young people’s involvement in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The role of young people in improving the state of the world took centre stage at this week’s World Youth Conference in Leon, Mexico. Over five days, delegates from 112 countries—including 25 000 youth and representatives from government, civil society and the United Nations—shared ideas on young people’s involvement in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

With an estimated 40% of new HIV infections occurring among people aged 15-24, a youth-centered approach to the AIDS response will be critical to meet MDG 6—halting and reversing the spread of HIV—and to ensure efforts are sustained in the long term.

In a video message to young delegates, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé said that young people had the power to shape a future with zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. “Each of you is a driving force for change and development in your own countries,” he said. “Together you are an incredible movement that is shaping the future of the world.”

Of the 33.4 million people living with HIV worldwide, some 5 million are young people. An estimated 2500 young people become newly infected with HIV each day. The epidemic has taken a particularly devastating toll on the lives of young women, who account for 66% of infections among youth worldwide.

Empowering young people to protect themselves from HIV represents one of UNAIDS’ ten priority areas, with the overall goal of a 30% reduction in new HIV infections by 2015.

At a joint workshop on HIV and young people, UNAIDS and UNFPA introduced a new “business case” outlining successes to date in the HIV response among youth and areas for improvement. Through the workshop, young delegates were invited to offer their perspectives on the relevance and application of the business case at the national level. Evidence-based information and HIV services, including sexual and reproductive health, were highlighted as critical to reducing infection among young people. Many participants voiced concern over reaching young people with effective HIV prevention messages.

“As we are still young and exploring, we may get into risky behaviors,” said Rodriguez Gastelum, a youth participant from Mexico who attended the workshop. “Correct information on HIV is the first step—that will protect us.”

Less than 40% of young men and women have access to accurate knowledge about HIV transmission—far short of the 95% target set in the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment for the year 2010. In developing countries, excluding China, only 30% of young men and 19% of young women benefit from comprehensive information on HIV.

Despite challenges, there are signs of progress. A new study from UNAIDS has reported a more than 25% drop in HIV prevalence among young people in 15 countries heavily affected by the AIDS epidemic.

“Simply put, young people are leading a prevention revolution all over the globe,” said Dr. César Nunez, Director of the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Latin America, in a health-focused session at the conference. “The empowerment of young people has led to changes in sexual behavior. Young people are choosing to have sex later, with fewer partners, and they are using condoms.”

Earlier this month, the UN launched the International Year of Youth, an initiative designed to increase youth participation in global development issues and enhance inter-cultural dialogue and understanding across generations. At a launch event in New York City, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged young people across the world to look beyond the borders of their own countries: “Engage with the world. Become a global citizen,” he said. “We are the leaders of today. You are the leaders of tomorrow.”

Y-PEER event at AIDS 2010, 23 July 2010. Credit: UNAIDS/Heimo Aga

Harnessing the power of the mass media and new technologies to reach young people with information about HIV and reproductive health was high on the agenda at the XVIII International AIDS conference yesterday during a series of events sponsored by Y-PEER, a youth initiative pioneered by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

According to UNFPA a youth-centred approach, such as Y-PEER, is critical to genuine engagement for change.“If we want to engage young people on health and lifestyle issues that affect them, we need to be where they are, sharing information through platforms they are connecting to every day,” said Purnima Mane, UNFPA Deputy Executive Director (Programmes).

“Run by youth for youth, Y-Peer continues to grab hold of the latest trends in entertainment and social media through innovative partnerships to promote health and prevent HIV infection.”

In an innovative session, Using Edutainment for Social and Behaviour Change, one of Hollywood’s top writers and producers, Zoanne Clack of the award-winning US series Grey’s Anatomy, joined experts, such as Colin Dixon of Dance4Life, AIDS activists and Y-PEER ambassadors to discuss how HIV is dealt with in the entertainment media.

Y-PEER phone app launched at AIDS2010, 23 July 2010. Credit: UNAIDS/Heimo Aga

Y-PEER is partnering with the Hollywood Health Society (HHS), which was represented by its director, Sandra de Castro Buffington, during the event. HHS, based at the University of Southern California, aims to provide writers and producers with accurate information for health storylines. Y-PEER works with HHS to try to identify similar models that can be easily replicated in other regions with the aim of sensitising the film industry and to encourage featuring HIV in popular programmes.

The session explored how education-entertainment, or ‘edutainment’, can bring issues around sexual and reproductive health, sexuality and HIV alive for a young audience, and how this can contribute to them making informed decisions in this critical area, helping them better protect themselves against the virus and reducing their vulnerability.  Empowering young people to protect themselves from HIV is one of the ten priority areas in the UNAIDS Outcome Framework (2009-11).

Recognising the role that celebrities can play in using their influence to highlight issues and change attitudes, beliefs and behaviour, a number of stars who are also Y-PEER ambassadors attended the session as guest speakers. These included Hollywood resident actor and activist Sammy Sheikh (who appeared in the series ‘24’, United States of Tara and LOST) and singers Daniela Dimitrovska (Macedonia), Lotfi (Tunisia) and Ana Stanic (Serbia).

Last night also saw the launch of Y-PEER knowledge applications for smart phones. Building on the Y-PEER programme, this new ‘app’ is intended to test young people’s skills and knowledge surrounding adolescent sexual and reproductive health. It contains more than 500 questions with four different types of quiz play focussing on eight topics, such as HIV, gender and sexuality and drug use. As well as testing their knowledge, users can learn more about Y-PEER activities and compare their scores with other players. Y-PEER has thousands of members in 48 countries around the globe in a movement which builds capacity and mobilises young people to participate in the national and global response. Members work to highlight issues around sexual and reproductive health and rights, seeking to empower young people, especially the most vulnerable, to make informed choices.

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.

UNAIDS Executive Director, centre, on stage at the closing of the Youth Pre-Conference.
Credit: UNAIDS/Heimo Aga

UNAIDS Executive Director Mr Michel Sidibé has highlighted how young people are leading the prevention revolution.

Mr Sidibé was speaking at the reception of the closing ceremony of the Youth Pre-Conference which took place 16 July 2010.

Referring to the data that shows that HIV prevalence has dropped 25% among youth in 15 of the highest burden countries, Mr Sidibé noted “young people are leading the prevention revolution… my dear young friends, never forget that your generation is different—and you are making the difference!”

He called for better access to comprehensive information on sex and sexuality  and sexual and reproductive health services; more investment in young people within national development goals to ensure an HIV-free generation and better data disaggregated by age and gender so responses can be tailored.

Mr Sidibé also highlighted the importance of human rights and gender equity saying no one should be ashamed or stigmatised by who they are or who they love.

The three day event for young people attending AIDS 2010 consisted of information sessions and skills-building workshops on HIV issues ranging from scientific knowledge to effective political advocacy. The event which began on 14 July and covered a range of workshops for young delegates to get the most out of the forthcoming XVIII International AIDS conference which begins on 18 July. Delegates had a chance to familiarize themselves with logistics, hone their advocacy and networking skills and attend “share your knowledge” sessions with peers.

Young people are high on the agenda at the forthcoming AIDS 2010.

Call for framework of human rights, harm reduction and health resources

Following a worldwide electronic consultation conducted by the Vienna YouthForce Advocacy Sub-committee, young people will run a campaign at AIDS 2010 to promote human rights, harm reduction and health resources as a framework to achieve HIV services for young people—Now make it happen!.

By highlighting these “3 HRs” to policy experts and decision makers in the coming week they hope to highlight young people’s needs in the AIDS response.

Recent analysis shows that when young people are empowered, they are taking responsibility for their behaviour and making a difference in the AIDS response.

Trends in HIV prevention and young people

Young people have shown that they can be change agents in the prevention revolution. According to UNAIDS Outlook Report published 13 July 2010, HIV prevalence has decreased among young people in more than 16 of the 21 countries most severely affected by the epidemic.

Of these, 12 have seen HIV prevalence among young people drop by more than 25%. Countries include Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Côte d’Ivoire. Young people are leading the revolution by adopting safer behaviours—they are choosing to have sex later, have fewer partners and are using condoms.

UNAIDS has made empowering young people to protect themselves from HIV a priority area. It calls on countries to implement a comprehensive set of programmes that put young people’s leadership at the centre of national responses, and empower young people to prevent sexual and other transmission of HIV infection among their peers.

Youth Pre-Conference

The Youth Pre-Conference was jointly organized by the AIDS 2010 Youth Programme and Vienna YouthForce (VYF), a global platform of international, regional and local youth organizations that focus on HIV as well as on sexual and reproductive health and rights.

The event received support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). UNFPA is the UNAIDS Cosponsor which leads on youth and HIV issues. It is committed to promoting meaningful youth participation in international events and has provided considerable support to young people during the previous three international AIDS conferences in Bangkok 2002, Toronto 2006 and Mexico 2008.

The eighteenth International AIDS Conference will begin on Sunday in Vienna. These events, which take place every two years, are the biggest gatherings of scientific, community and government leaders, UN agencies, donors and the general public committed to finding solutions to end the spread of HIV and provide access to services.

The research was supported by a telephone helpline service to respond to health and human rights concerns of sex workers during the World Cup.
Credit: UNFPA

As part of the UN South Africa Programme of Support to the FIFA 2010 World Cup, UNFPA and SWEAT (Sex Worker Education & Advocacy Taskforce) partnered with South African researchers to investigate key dimensions of HIV and sex work during the tournament. This rigorous research was supported by a telephone helpline service to respond to health and human rights concerns of sex workers during the World Cup. According to Mr. Eric Harper, Executive Director of SWEAT: “These projects give weight to the rights watch dimension for most-at-risk-populations that is so vital when the largest sporting event in the world occurs.”

Sex work in South Africa became one of the most talked about issues in preparation for the tournament. Newspapers warned of an influx of sex workers to the country to exploit the lucrative potential of the arrival of thousands of soccer fans. As the programme’s lead researcher, Marlise Richter, maintained: “Public health and human rights responses to international sporting events should be based on rigorous, systematic research - not on fear-mongering and sensationalism.” This referred to media reports that over-estimated the number of foreign sex workers headed to the country and the result of confusing issues of trafficking and sex work. The research also addresses the significant data shortages related to sex work and HIV in South Africa in the longer term.

The research assessed sex worker fears, expectations and experiences of the World Cup, gathered information on sex worker mobility, frequency of health care visits and interaction with police. It also tracked the number of clients and potential changes in sex work activity during the World Cup. The tournament presented a strategic opportunity for South Africa to respond to the challenges that the sex industry poses in a rights-based way and provided the momentum for these issues to be taken further in the future. At the same time, conducting research that tracked the changes in the sex work sector during a big, international sporting event is vital to inform future policy and planning for similar events across the world.

Following a right-to-health approach, and in accordance with the UNAIDS Guidance Note on HIV and Sex Work , UNFPA supported SWEAT to provide sexual and reproductive health services, including HIV prevention, to sex workers during the tournament and beyond. Sex workers’ ability to look after their health, more especially their sexual and reproductive health, is inextricably linked to their ability to access human rights in general.

Commenting on the initiative, Dianne Massawe, Project Officer for SWEAT said: “This partnersunhip affords us the opportunity to respond specifically to the sexual and reproductive health aspect through increased outreach and distribution of safer sex tools and information to sex workers. In addition, the telephone helpline provide[d] valuable assistance to sex workers around the human rights abuses they face.”

South Africa is often referred to as the epicentre of the AIDS epidemic, home to the world’s largest number of people living with HIV. Within this epicentre, populations most at risk of HIV infection must be prioritised in prevention strategies. UNFPA supports SWEAT in research that will generate further evidence on the need for comprehensive programmes that promote a human rights-based approach to universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support in the context of adult sex work.

The completed research report is expected by September 2010.

“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.