Accelerating the Education Sector Response to HIV: Five Years of Experience from Sub-Saharan Africa

by Donald Bundy, Anthi Patrikios, Changu Mannathoko, Andy Tembon, Stella Manda

Overview

The education sector plays a key “external” role in preventing and reducing the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS. It also plays an important “internal” role in providing access to care, treatment, and support for teachers and education staff, a group that in many countries represents more than 60 percent of the public sector workforce. The education sector can also have a critically important positive effect on the future: Even in the worst-affected countries, most schoolchildren are not infected. For these children, there is a chance to live lives free from AIDS if they can be educated on the knowledge and values that can protect them as they grow up. The authors of 'Accelerating the Education Sector Response to HIV' explore the experiences of education sectors across Sub-Saharan Africa as they scale up their responses to HIV/AIDS within the Accelerate Initiative Working Group, established in 2002 by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Inter-Agency Task Team on Education. This book demonstrates that leadership by the ministries of education and commitment from key development partners are crucial for mobilizing activities and that full participation of all stakeholders is required for effective implementation. This book summarizes the experiences of technical Focal Points from the 37 ministries of education in Sub-Saharan Africa, which are represented on the sub-regional networks for HIV and Education. These experiences prove that the education sector response can play a crucially important role in the multisectoral national responses to this epidemic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780821379325
Publisher:	World Bank Publications
Publication date:	02/02/2010
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Foreword xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Abbreviations and Acronyms xxiii

Overview xxvii

Introduction 1

Background to the Accelerate Initiative 3

Goals and Objectives of the Accelerate Initiative 4

Implementation of the Accelerate Initiative 5

The Evolution of the Accelerate Initiative 6

Review of the Accelerate Initiative: Five Years On 7

1 Promoting Leadership by the Education Sector and Creating Sectoral Demand for a Response to HIV/AIDS 9

Mainstreaming HIV/AIDS in the Education Sector 11

Evaluating the Accelerate Initiative Process 13

2 Harmonizing Support among Development Partners to Better Assist Countries and Reduce Transaction Costs 15

3 Promoting Coordination with the National AIDS Authorities and Enhancing Access to AIDS Funds 21

4 Sharing Information on HIV/AIDS with Specific Relevance to the Education Sector 25

Production of New Documentation Addressing Education Issues from an HIV/AIDS Perspective 26

Promoting Greater Access to a Critical Subset of Existing Information on AIDS and Education 28

5 Strengthening the Technical Content and Implementation of the Education Sector Response to HIV/AIDS 35

Sector Policy (Including Workplace Policy) 37

Planning and Mitigation 40

Prevention (Including Teacher Training and Life Skills) 43

Ensuring Access to Education for Orphans and Vulnerable Children 46

6 Conclusions and the Way Forward 49

Education Sector Responses Have Accelerated 50

More Effective Links with Development Partners Are Emerging 50

More and Better Quality Information Is Available 51

Education Sector Responses to HIV Are Now Being Implemented by a Majority of Countries 52

Not All Sectoral HIV Responses Are Mainstream Activities 52

Effective Monitoring and Evaluation Remain a Major Challenge 53

Investment in Regional Coordination and Knowledge Sharing Shows Benefits But Can Be Difficult to Sustain 54

EFA-FTI Processes Are Strengthening HIV/AIDS Responses within the Education Sector Plans 54

Countries of the Southern Cone Have Yet to Engage in the Accelerate Initiative 55

The Future of the Accelerate Initiative 55

Appendixes 57

Appendix A Chronology of Accelerate Workshops 59

Appendix B Development Partners Involved in Subregional and National Workshops Held since 2002 63

Appendix C Top 20 Distributed Documents to Date 67

Appendix D Accelerating the Education Sector Response to HIV/AIDS in Africa: A Checklist of Good Practice 69

Appendix E 2007 Survey Questionnaire 77

References 87

Index 89

Boxes

1 The UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) on Education 4

2 Leadership by the Education Sector within a Federal System: The Case of Nigeria 10

3 Leadership by the Education Sector within a Small State: The Republic of Burundi 11

4 Mainstreaming: The Gender Perspective 12

5 Civil Society's Role in Accelerating the Education Sector Response to HIV/AIDS 16

6 HIV/AIDS as a Workplace Issue 18

7 Fostering "Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GIPA)" in the Accelerate Initiative 20

8 Accessing NAC Funding in the West Africa Network 22

9 A Checklist of Good Practice 26

10 The "Window of Hope" Documentary 27

11 A Sourcebook of HIV/AIDS Prevention Activities in the Education Sector, Volume II 30

12 Countries Emerging from Conflict and Fragile States 36

13 Taking Activities to Scale: Teacher Training in Ghana 36

14 The Senegalese Experience: School Health, Nutrition, and HIV/AIDS Programming 37

15 Providing Teachers with Access to Free VCT and ART: A Success Story from Zambia 38

16 Agreeing on Indicators and Effective M&E Strategies 41

17 The Ministry of Education HIV/AIDS Focal Point Survey: A Tool for Monitoring Process 43

18 Developing HIV/AIDS Prevention Curricula in Central Africa 44