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As the convening agency for education in
the UNAIDS programme, UNESCO has a special role to play in the area of
prevention education. The UNESCO strategy for HIV/AIDS HIV/AIDS
Prevention Education essentially defines and describes UNESCO’s
contribution to the global response to HIV/AIDS in its particular
areas of competence. UNESCO’s strategy is to place special emphasis on
prevention with and for education.
By HIV/AIDS prevention education,
UNESCO means offering learning opportunities for all to develop the
knowledge, skills, competencies, values and attitudes that will limit
the transmission and impact of the pandemic, including through access
to care and counseling and education for treatment. UNESCO also means,
through improved prevention and planning, to limit the impact of
HIV/AIDS on the education sector, thereby preserving the core
functions of the education systems.
The need for prevention education flows from the types of ignorance
closely associated with the HIV/AIDS epidemic and prevention education
is essential in making people aware that they are risk- why and how
prevalence can be reduced. As long as no vaccine exists and treatments
are unaffordable, education is the most effective strategy. So far,
prevention through education is not only the most economical response,
it is the most patent and potent response
The backbone of the strategy is the role of education in the broadest
sense in reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS and its impact on education
systems. It focuses on the following five core tasks:
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advocacy, expansion of knowledge and
enhancement of capacity;
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customizing the message and finding
the right messenger;
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reducing risk and vulnerability;
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ensuring rights and care for the
infected and affected; and
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coping with the institutional impact.
1. Advocacy, expansion of knowledge
and enhancement of capacity
The critical factor for a renewed and effective strategy for
prevention education is the massive, consistent and unrelenting
advocacy and support of political authorities at the highest national
level. Advocacy must, however, be based on knowledge and on the
capacity to implement what is advocated. Hence, UNESCO will continue
to:
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engage in high-level advocacy for
prevention education with governments, particularly ministries, and
with agencies and non-governmental organizations;
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increase knowledge about the processes
of prevention education and the impact of HIV/AIDS on education
systems through research, collection and dissemination of
information, and statistics, and its clearinghouses on HIV/AIDS and
education; and
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build capacity of ministries,
education and training personnel, health personnel, communication
and information specialists, cultural agents and civil society
organizations to carry out advocacy and prevention education, as
well as to monitor the effects of HIV/AIDS on education.
2. Customizing the message and
finding the right messenger.
UNESCO, working with its partners, will:
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foster the development of knowledge,
attitudes and skills in health education and other school subjects,
based on proven pedagogical methods;
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support and improve peer education
through formal and non-formal education
and by participatory and experiential learning;
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stress prevention education programmes
for all types and all levels of education, including for teachers
and in universities and adult education;
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assess, develop and communicate
prevention messages and methods for target groups not reached by
formal education, in particular adults;
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promote use of arts and creativity in
the fight against HIV/AIDS, as part of non formal and informal
education;
-
support communication and information
networks, notably youth NGOs and those working on gender issues, for
HIV/AIDS prevention education;
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continue to refine the ways in which
prevention messages are developed and delivered to ensure they are
appropriate for the given cultural context and for specific groups;
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foster involvement of people living
with HIV/AIDS in prevention education;
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develop access to scientific
information on HIV/AIDS provided by basic research; and
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continue to operate and improve its
clearinghouse on curriculum-oriented issues.
3. Reducing risk and vulnerability.
UNESCO will:
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promote prevention education as part
of the provision of quality education for all;
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promote the development of
environments, in and outside of school, that reduce vulnerability,
and ensure that laws and regulations are developed to this end;
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support programmes for schools that
are healthy, child- and adolescent friendly and protective,
particularly for girls, including the teaching of human rights,
gender equality, democracy and citizenship; ensure that gender
issues are explicitly addressed in education;
-
assist authorities in developing
workplace policies and codes of practice that reduce vulnerability
and protect the rights of children on issues ranging from behaviour
towards the infected, to the care for orphans, sexual harassment, or
rights and responsibilities of all school personnel and rights of
school children with HIV/AIDS; and
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work with appropriate partners to
develop non-formal and peer education programmes for adolescents and
young adults out of school, in particular for girls and women.
4. Ensuring rights and care for the
infected and affected.
UNESCO will:
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support education programmes that
ensure that all know the facts about HIV/AIDS so that fear and
discrimination do not reduce the availability of care;
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promote and build up counselling and
care for those infected and affected;
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promote measures to ensure the right
to education for orphans, affected children and young people so that
they enter and stay in education;
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support education and training in
counselling and care of education and health personnel;
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share information on good practices,
notably those involving people living with
HIV/AIDS; and
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increase attention to linking
prevention education to treatment and care.
5. Coping with the institutional
impact
UNESCO will:
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develop and disseminate tools to
research, monitor and evaluate progress in coping with the impact of
HIV/AIDS on education, and help countries to do the same;
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analyze the impacts and implications
of HIV/AIDS on the organization of education, both formal and
non-formal, and review different modes of financing;
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develop materials and courses and
provide training for planners, administrators and managers of key
institutions, such as schools, universities and ministries;
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continue to operate and improve its
clearinghouse on the impact of HIV/AIDS on education;
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train planners and managers to assess
and address the impact of HIV/AIDS on education systems and other
vital social institutions;
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ensure integration of HIV/AIDS
national planning into EFA planning and programming and other
development mechanisms that affect education.
The strategy covers regional strategies
adopted in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and
the Caribbean, Europe and the Arab States region. The current strategy
is projected onto the period 2004-2008, but will be updated and
revised as required. Top |
