Knowledge Sharing > Flagship Initiatives > The inter-agency initiative on AIDS, schools and education Background: The idea for a global strategy framework on AIDS, schools and education was initiated through UNAIDS and is intended to articulate with the broader UNAIDS global framework currently being developed. It will be designed to guide potential stakeholders at any level through the key issues, although adaptation and local level iteration are encouraged. While clearly directed at education systems, and particularly at improving the reach and effectiveness of programmes delivered by or through schools, all that needs to be done cannot be achieved by the education sector alone. A range of sectors are encouraged to consider the key issues and collaborate on supportive strategies for achieving common goals. Focus: The proposed global strategy framework is intended to highlight AIDS issues related to schools and education systems, within a broader framework which will focus on young people, which will in turn link to the overarching UNAIDS global framework. As such, the strategy framework will be necessarily limited to schools and education systems as important vehicles for reaching young people, who are of critical importance to the prevention of AIDS and to promoting caring and supportive communities and schools. The strategy framework will sharply focus on children and young people of school age, especially those in school, but will also look to bring more children into school as well as to reach out into the community. Activities: The current draft of the global strategy framework on AIDS, schools, and education focuses on two main tracks: (i) Responding to the impact of AIDS on education, and (ii) Using education for AIDS prevention, within a continuum of care and support (i) Responding to the impact of AIDS on education While in some parts of the world AIDS is not having a clear impact on education, in the most AIDS affected countries, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, the main ways that AIDS is making an impact is by affecting the supply of education (teachers dying, sick, or caring for others), the demand for education (orphans, children affected and infected by AIDS not able to attend school regularly), the quality of education (AIDS escalates the problems of already struggling systems), and the management of education (inability or inactivity regarding long term planning which considers and responds to AIDS) Some studies on the impact of AIDS on education have been conducted in African countries affected by AIDS. The overwhelming need is for guidance on possible responses. One possibility is to look to the relative success in some countries or to consider AIDS as integral to a broader agenda of overall education reform. The International Institute of Educational Planning (UNESCO) in Paris is working to serve as a clearinghouse for studies and activities in this area. (ii) Using education for AIDS prevention, within a continuum of care and support AIDS prevention education delivered through schools, whether via formal and non-formal approaches, has enormous potential for reaching children and young people with necessary information and skills to protect themselves and to help them to cope with the impact of AIDS on their lives and their communities. Effective skills-based health education, in whatever form it takes at the school level, is considered a key strategy. However, in general this potential has not been realized. Members of flagship programme: Sponors of the UNAIDS Programme: UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA and the World Bank Key bilateral donor agencies, international non-governmental organzations and teachers' unions as well as education associations. Contact information: Francoise Caillods Deputy Director, International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP/UNESCO) 7 9 Rue Eugène Delacroix 75116 Paris, France Tel: 33 1 45 03 77 38, Fax: 33 1 40 72 83 66 E-mail: f.caillods@iiep.unesco.org Amaya Gillespie Senior Advisor, Education Section UNICEF, Three United Nations Plaza New York, NY 10017, U.S.A. Fax: 1-212 824 6481 E-mail: agillespie@unicef.org