ADEA Ad Hoc Working Group on HIV and AIDS and Education

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The Ad hoc Working Group on HIV and AIDS and Education was created in 2002 to address the impact of HIV and AIDS on the education sector in sub-Saharan Africa. Most existing programs are currently narrowly focused in terms of target groups and scope (many are still in pilot stages). This group will address the preparedness of educational sectors and offer lessons of best practices of how the pandemic is addressed by African ministries of education. Working in collaboration with ADEA constituencies (working groups, partner agencies and countries) the ad hoc group supports the sharing of strategies and practices that mitigate the devastating impact of HIV and AIDS.

 

Background

Since its inception in late 2002, the Ad hoc WG on HIV and AIDS has built its program of action on the outcomes of the ADEA Identifying effective responses to HIV and AIDS in the education sector initiative. The 31 proposals received and 11 country experiences thus documented have depicted the state of preparedness of education sectors and yielded lessons that are by and large illustrative of how the HIV and AIDS pandemic is being addressed by ministries of education across the African continent. For instance, most programs are narrowly focused in terms of their target groups and limited in scope (still at pilot stages). Moreover, little attention has been paid to mitigation measures, which could prevent major dysfunctions of the education systems.

The Ad hoc WG has gained additional insights during the preparation and proceedings of the sub-regional ministerial conference for Central Africa in May 27-30, 2003 in Gabon. Lessons learned from the country case studies collected by ADEA through its Initiative were shared and contrasted with experiences in Central Africa. This conference provided also the opportunity for the ad hoc WG on HIV and AIDS to liaise with ADEA WGs involved in HIV and AIDS work and other partners (IATT, MTT and UNDP) to help Central African countries to begin drafting or refine their HIV and AIDS sector plans. In a seminar preceding the ministerial conference, planners and HIV and AIDS focal points of the region had been engaged in discussions and reflections on state-of-the art prevention and mitigation models and strategies. As a result, all participating country teams had drafted sector plans that were subsequently presented to the ministerial conference. The ministers and participants agreed that time is now for action and issued recommendations that could be summarized as follows: an effective fight against HIV and AIDS within the education sector entails (i) a systematic assessment of its impact on the sector, then (ii) the building up of the capacity of the system to cope with the onslaught through (iii) the setting-up of partnerships at the school, national, sub-regional, regional and international levels.

Planned activities for 2006-2007
Main thrust of activities

In view of the above, 2006 and 2007 activities for the ad hoc WG on HIV and AIDS will, in great part, consist of consolidating the momentum gathered since 2003. In addition to the follow-up of specific recommendations made at the Gabon conference that entail (i) fostering exchanges of experiences and expertise, (ii) facilitating technical missions to countries to refine and/or enrich the strategic sector plans and/or (iii) setting up AIDS-sensitive management information systems, the ad hoc WG will also focus on assessment and mitigation of impact, the strengthening of capacity and on fostering effective partnerships. It is also worth noting that the campaign launched by ADEA in 2003 to assess the needs of ministries of education through a questionnaire has yielded quite a few requests for support in the fight against HIV and AIDS. As much as financial resources will permit, these requests will be addressed.

Even though the main thrust of the 2006-2007 activities is on action on the ground, efforts to document and disseminate through case studies or evaluation reports promising approaches in the three areas outlined above will be given great consideration. A selection of the case studies from the Identifying effective responses to HIV and AIDS in the education sector initiative will be edited and published. One major piece of research will be an independent evaluation of experiences in setting up an AIDS-sensitive EMIS to assess and monitor the impact of the pandemic on the sector will be carried out. This will allow the WG to ascertain the reported effectiveness of the management information system and the coping social mechanisms put in place by ministries. In terms of prevention, promising experiences will be evaluated in order to identify the success factors and challenges presented by programs that rely on a strong partnership between diverse actors. ADEA WGs will be also invited to submit reports or case studies that they deem publishable.

Download Background Documents

Education Sector Responses to HIV and AIDS : Learning from good practices in Africa
Prepared by RISPEL, Laetitia with LETLAPE, Lebogang and METCALF, Carol
The Commonwealth Secretariat, ADEA and the Human Sciences Research Council, 2006.
PDF Format 3,5 Mo

Responding to HIV and AIDS in the Education Sector:Synthesis Report.
ADEA and IIEP Partner Workshop on Needs Assessment and Research Results. Entebbe, Uganda, 11- 14 May 2005.
Word format, 30 Ko , 2005.

Report of the Ministerial Conference in Central Africa: “Effective Responses to the HIV and AIDS Pandemic in the Education Sector: From Analysis to Action”
ADEA WG Ad Hoc on HIV and AIDS, 2003, PDF format 786 Ko

Audio-Visual Productions: DVD

Kenya, The Teaching Profession UNITED Against HIV/AIDS
Produced and directed by ECOLIVET, Katrina J.
This film documents the experiences and strategies implemented by a network of HIV positive teachers in Kenya to wad off stigma and discrimination at the workplace.It highlights the work done to counter discriminatory practices and to gain acceptance and recognition within the schools and in the education sector as a whole. The HIV positive teachers portrayed in the film provide examples of hope for professionals, demonstrating that one can live a full, productive and fulfilling professional life in the face of HIV infection.
Commissioned by ADEA, 2006. Available in DVD format in three languages: English, French and Portuguese.

Useful Links
The HIV/AIDS Impact on Education Clearinghouse: information makes a difference
UNESCO/The International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP)

UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) on Education
UNAIDS and UNESCO

For further information on the Ad Hoc Working Group on HIV and AIDS,

Please contact:

Hamidou BOUKARY
Senior Program Specialist,
ADEA Secretariat
7-9 rue Eugène Delacroix
75116 Paris, France
Tel: 331 45 03 77 58/57
Fax: 331 45 03 39 65
E-mail: h.boukary@iiep.unesco.org